I'm not normally a fan of RPS - it makes me feel icky. But as I know nothing whatsoever about any of the American Idol contestants, being British, that makes it All Okay. Especially when someone like astolat kept writing David/David slash...

...okay, so it's not by astolat, but once you've got me started...

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Woke Up Married by celli. Summary: "Archie, we got married at--at Elvis's Chapel O' Love and Rainbows. And you're fine with that?"


Tags: americanidol, cook/archuleta, slash, fic, futurefic, rps, a:celli

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(Post title will make more sense if you know BSL. Like what I do. Had my exam this week and got 15/18, which is precisely the pass mark, so unless I get moderated down, I've passed my 101! Only have 102 and 103 left this academic year. 'Only', she says...)

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The Devil's Gate by hesychasm. Summary: She'd always known she'd make her way there one day.


An amazing, long and intricate crossover, fusing the two universes and their inhabitants together so well that you really get absorbed into it. I'm not usually a great reader of femslash, but I loved this. Quick technical question, btw - do people usually spell it femslash, or femmeslash? Spelling and grammar nazis need to know!


Tags: buffy, angel, supernatural, crossover, crossover:supernatural, crossover:buffy, faith/jo, femslash, fic, jossverse, a:hesychasm

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Today I bought a 1tB harddrive from a guy who works at the hospital. It is big and a little noisy and totally awesome. But now I need to name it, and you see, I have this naming system - (almost) all my computer equipment has names that begin with the letter 'l'. My previous laptop was called Loretta, one of my previous harddrives was called Lacey, my new laptop is called Leonard... (my smaller harddrive is called Sakura, but that's a story for a different day.)

Anyway... any suggestions? I have decided that it is a boy harddrive (obviously,) if that helps.

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Paparazzo by basingstoke. Extract: Peter could only hope--only hope--only shoot his web and yeah, his aim was true, and yeah, Iron Man bounced as lightly as a golf club on a windscreen, but the webbing held.


(Make sure to follow the series tag and read the sequel, Tabloid</i>, too!)


Tags: spiderman, ironman, crossover, crossover:spiderman, crossover:ironman, marvelverse, tonystark, peterparker, slash, fic, a:basingstoke

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You know how sometimes, someone tells you something you did was wrong, and they're really nice about it, but you still end up feeling like the puppy after you've tapped its nose with the newspaper? I really hate that.

Continuing today's canine theme, then: today's rec! ionaonie will, of course, claim I've defected over to the dark side, but I have to admit that as time has gone on I've enjoyed Kirk/McCoy more than I did, and now I like it as much as I like Kirk/Spock. This is a great example of the pairing, even though it's a werewolf fic - it carries the tone of the relationship really well, and Sarka really captures McCoy's grouchy loveability in her use of his POV.

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Twice Shy by sarkasticfics. Summary: Bones is a werewolf. The moment he met James Kirk, got a good whiff of his scent, he knew he was fucked.He had thought those stories about werewolves scenting their mate were all bullshit. But the stories about mating for life have got to be fake, right? Right?


Tags: startrekxi, kirk/mccoy, slash, fic, au, cliche:someoneisawerewolf, a:sarka

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Firstly, thanks to krazykipper, hils and lightstarangel for my snowflake cookies! Nom nom nom!

Secondly, I know I haven't been posting recs the last two weeks or so. I had a crazy-busy week in which I had no time to do it, and of course knocked myself out of the habit. So! Back to our regularly scheduled programming:


I love this fic because it has a great, dark, gothic presence to it, which is what I loved about these two films. Constantine crossed with Batman Begins! It's movieverse, so you can follow it without knowing all the history of the characters, and has such powerful tone. Wonderful stuff.


Libera Me by Ayien. Extract: He hates Gotham. It's a city rotting from the inside out, infected with a cancer of the soul, and he wonders as he glances up at a street-sign with `Fuck Batman' sloppily painted over it if God has forgotten this place. The Holy Nail is heavy in his pocket.

Tags: dcu, batman, constantine, gen, fic, crossover, crossover:batman, crossover:constantine, yuletide2008

Not only does the author of this fic have a wonderful grasp of ACD's voice, but the imagery used in this story is just beautiful. A really lovely read.

Full of Grace by Katie. Extract: When Holmes heard my footsteps on the stair, his eyes flicked over to me as he listened to our landlady, and a surge of pride overwhelmed me when a very brief, affectless smile flooded his wonderfully expressive face.

Tags: sherlockholmes, holmes/watson, slash, fic, a:katie

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Is anyone reading these recs, by the way? Because nobody's given me any idea whether or not it's worth me keeping doing this or not. Are you getting anything out of it, or am I just sending them out into the ether, never to be received?

Today's fic not only has a surfeit of exquisite, fantastically gorgeous writing, but it uses an OC's point-of-view (don't run away!) for a large portion of the fic with seamless fit into the universe and wonderful insight into Jim Kirk's character, putting forth an image of his childhood and education that will really stay with you. This is my new canon.


Graduate Vulcan for Fun and Profit by lazulisong. Summary: It really does take a village to raise a Jim.

Tags: startrekxi, kirk, gen, fic, outsidepov, oc, a:lazulisong

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If you haven't read Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, firstly, why not, and secondly, you might find this rec somewhat confusing. Also, thirdly, why not, no, really? It's a masterpiece of historical fantasy, cleverly interwoven into the Napoleonic era, with a wonderful and unique tone and voice that really ensnares the reader and pulls you bodily into the text. I was surprised to find that a fan-author had so totally captured Susanna Clarke's style, but afrai really got it spot-on in this fic, which I totally adore.



The Blest Surprize by afrai. Extract: Arabella had taken part in many a dreary procession through the endless dark halls of Lost-hope, but she could not recall if she had been in this one before, for there was not a pin to chuse between any of them for appearance. This one, like the others, had small windows set high in the walls, and the moon flung long white shafts through the windows onto the stone floor. Yet the corridor, though lit, looked no more welcoming than if it had been left completely in shadow ... The room was pleasantly appointed but oddly bare. Arabella looked around it, lost in wonder. Only then did she see that it was not empty. A small pale middle-aged man in a disreputable black coat sat at a table with a book. He was looking at Arabella with every sign of astonishment.

Tags: masterandcommander, jonathanstrange, crossover, crossover:masterandcommander, crossover:jonathanstrange, aubrey/maturin, gen, fic, yuletide, a:afrai

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...so after three days, I totally managed to fail at my own challenge of posting a rec every day. I blame this on DVD boxsets of Dexter and on the horrible weather making me want to curl up in bed with the remote control in one hand and some chocolate in the other.

On that note, I've decided to post four recs at once to make up for it, and since I'm doing more than one, they're going to be themed!

Today, the theme is: genderfuck. This term can mean lots of different things - a genderswitch within the story, a story in which a character has always had another gender, crossdressing, the concept of internalised gender... I love fics which play with the idea of gender and its role in the psyche well. Of course, I also love ones where Merlin gets unexpected ladyparts. But I digress!

The spot you missed by petronelle. Summary: At least one of the effects of the anomaly is to cause sex reversal in its subjects.

Tags: dcu, batman, tim/steph, slash, het, fic, genderswap, genderfuck, crackfic, a:petronelle

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Straight as a Circle by toomuchplor. Summary: John Sheppard wakes up straight.

Tags: sga, mckay/sheppard, slash, fic, genderfuck, romance, het, a:toomuchplor

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Being Ray Kowalski by isiscolo. Summary: Rae Kowalski wakes up one morning in an alternate reality where she is, and apparently has always been, a man.

Tags: duesouth, fraser/kowalski, slash, het, fic, au, genderswapped!au, genderfuck, a:isis

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Five Things That Never Happened To Aubrey & Maturin Five: The World Turned Upside Down by astolat. Extract: Yet even after being put to bed, he remained lucid for a week before the worst of the change and the associated delirium came upon him.

Tags: masterandcommander, aubrey/maturin, slash, fic, genderfuck, a:astolat

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Me: Can you see my poster at the other end of the room? You tell me if that piglet runs away.
Child: The piglet won't run away, posters don't come alive!
Me: Oh dear, you got me! Was I being silly?
Child: Yes. Posters only come alive at night, silly.


You're Not the Boss of Me (But You Might be Big) by catwalksalone. Summary: The thing about McGee is...well, the thing about McGee is that he started out as marshmallow and somewhere along the way turned into steel.

Tags: ncis, dinozzo/mcgee, slash, fic, a:catwalksalone


I yearn for comments. I long for responses. Give me feedback! Was this rec solid gold, or does it belong on regretsy? One being 'laaaaaaaame' and ten being 'have my alien space babies RIGHT NOW.'



How much did you like this fic?




Why do I never post these when I'm actually at home, where this would be much easier?

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Flood by enjambament. Extract: After Arthur accosts Merlin in the potato storage room, it’s easier for a few days. They can’t help catching each other’s eyes across the hall and pausing, trapped by their own want, but Merlin is more conscious of how close he stands when he serves Arthur at dinner, and Arthur at least stops telling him to go groom his horse like what he actually means to say is please, if you would take off all your clothes.

Tags: merlin, merlin/arthur, slash, fic, a:enjambament

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Cutest thing ever Y/Y? It came like this in the shop!




Nobody voted yesterday, therefore nobody objected, which in medical terms means you consent to my spamming you with daily recs! Fail, flist, fail at preventing your own... rec'dness? This sentence was going somewhere when I started it.


Your daily rec:

Not as clever as you think you are by black_eyedgirl. Extract: “I don’t believe in psychics,” Jane says. “That’s okay,” Shawn answers cheerfully, “neither do I. Tell me though, how’d you manage to convince everyone else that you don’t exist? Because I’ve tried, and they still don’t buy it.”

Tags: psych, the mentalist, gen, fic, shawn spencer, patrickjane, a:black-eyedgirl


Like the recs? Hate the recs? Hate me? Let me know so I can be wordy and ridiculously over-flowery in my reply and use lots of adjectives.

...that I'd like to be better about posting. I'm really bad at it. So, I thought, 'what am I good at that I can post about?', and the answer is recommending fic. So, the plan: I'm going to try to recommend one fic every day.

I won't necessarily have read it recently - I have a massive back-catalogue of saved links on my delicious. But I will have read it, and think that it's worth recommending.

I'm also hoping to rec something from a different fandom each time - obviously not ad infinitum, but in a week you should only see one fic for any given fandom. At the bottom of the post will be a link to my delicious tag for that fandom.

Do people think this is a good idea? Would you be interested?

Poll #1483440
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 1

Would you be interested in daily recs?

And now, the first rec, completely disregarding whether you answered yes or no!

Swashing, Maybe A Little Buckling by eldritchhorrors. Summary: Jo had a pretty good idea of what pirates were generally like. Generally. Then she met Captain Jim.

Tags: startrekxi, kirk/joannamccoy, het, fic, au, pirates!au, a:eldritchhorrors

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...elmathelas linked me to this awesome classic Peanuts cartoon:

Sally wears a patch

I'll change the link to an image later, but right now I'm at the gym and apparently right-click doesn't work here. Weird.

WANT. A map of the world, but with the original meanings of the names instead of the names themselves! Fancy hanging out in Unfordable River Town, anyone? Or we could fly out to New Wild Boar Village for the weekend...

Bit sad today because Hot Doctor turns out to have a girlfriend. For those of you who I haven't told about this, this is why I didn't bother - because things always turn out this way for me *le sigh* Is it pathetic that the fact he jokes about me being his other girlfriend I still find endearing?

Had a great day at the Merlin Meet in London yesterday, as ever, and today thought maybe I ought to actually give out links to some of the fics I mentioned to people instead of just dangling them in front of people and taunting them :D


From a World More Full of Weeping by azarsuerte. Turns out I have two fics a bit like this - Susan Pevensie meets The Doctor. Summary: Two people meet who have nothing in common…except a world of loss.

Threads That Are Golden Don't Break Easily by Lady Paperclip. Summary: Susan meets Captain Harkness at various points in her life.


Off My Lawn! by Barrowjane. Kirk and Spock being grumpy old men! Extract: "Jim, I do not see the point of this," Spock said, turning the cane Jim had given him over in his hands. "Neither you or I require assistance in walking."


Intreat Me Not To Leave Thee by C.M. Decarnin. A long, beautiful D/s fic, sadly unfinished, but worth reading anyway - the endpoint is still somewhat satisfying, so not a total cliffhanger. Summary: Kirk gets an ultimatum.

OMG YOU GUYS, THE GIANTEST OF GIANT SPIDERS JUST RAN ACROSS MY FLOOR, AND I CAUGHT IT WITH MY SPIDER-CATCHING GLASS, BUT I ACCIDENTALLY BROKE OFF ONE OF ITS LEGS, WHICH I FEEL BAD ABOUT BECAUSE, DUH, I WOULDN'T WANT SOMEONE TO SNAP OFF ONE OF MY LEGS, I GREW THEM MYSELF YOU KNOW, AND ANYWAY I GOT RID OF IT, BUT I WAS ABOUT TO GO TO SLEEP AND NOW I DON'T KNOW IF THERE MIGHT BE MORE OF THEM IN HERE.

YOU GUYS, THIS IS NOT WHAT I NEEDED AT BEDTIME. It may not be as bad as poor thisissirius's bedbug problem, but it's still freaking me out! ionaonie, where are you with a handy spider-killing crutch when I need you to guard over my sleep?

Sure, it would be nice if Mr Bates didn't turn up to his clinic two hours late and make all his patients wait. But he's just one asshole consultant. Most of us work damn hard, and for relatively small pay (it starts off good but doesn't go up much) to make other people's lives better.

I love my job. I really, really love my job. I love helping people and telling people their kids are fine and not to worry. I love working with patients even when there's nothing I can do for them, even though I have to tell them that, because people still sent them to me to see if we could help them - not cutting them out of the system, not ignoring them because they're 'too disabled'. I work with five-month-olds and five-year-olds and fifty-year-olds and eighty-five-year-olds. I work with glaucoma and squints and amblyopia and cataracts, and idiots and wonderful people and people who don't speak English well enough to tell the difference between 'keep patching' and 'stop patching'.

I get into work first thing in the morning and I don't leave until we've seen everybody and all the paperwork is done and we're ready for everyone else to come in the next morning and start all over again. I work my ass off when we're running late - and it's never our fault, it's always because a patient was late or we've been asked to see an extra person because they really need our help - and I sit around waiting for patients who never bother turning up for their appointments.

And even with all of this - I want always to be doing more for people, to be using best practice, to argue for better facilities and tests and to run more clinics and help people more. And you know what? I can do that, if I work hard enough for it. Because that's what the NHS is. We do it out of love, and anybody who wants to slag us off can go pay for their own healthcare somewhere where the doctors give them extra appointments and extra drugs that they don't need because they get paid more that way, and ask for their insurance details before they'll set a broken leg or take five seconds to check their kid for a squint.

I'm feeling kinda lonely tonight. I think it's finally sinking in that I'm living in a new town, knowing very few people, all of whom have other friends and stuff to do, and that I want to have plans but don't. I can't expect people to hang out with me all the time, but I really need to make some more friends around here so I can hang out with people and do stuff and get out of the house. If it's like this when I'm currently living in shared accommodation with someone I get on with and sit with chatting sometimes while we watch TV, I'm starting to wonder what it's going to be like to live entirely on my own...

I can't really offer for anyone to stay over here (at least until I move around September-time), not that you'd want to since hospital accommodation is so rubbish, but would anyone like to make plans to hang out on a weekend or something? I can drive and come to you, we can do whatever, I'm not fussy. I just want to have something planned so I feel less like I'm going to become the next victim on CSI who had no friends so they can't ask anyone questions about her life, and end up poking around her home commenting on how sad it must have been.

Some very kind people let me know that track 11 of the fanmix I posted yesterday is corrupted, so I've reuploaded the song separately. During the week I have really limited internet access, so reloading the whole mix would have been very, very difficult.

You can find the reuploaded track here, at Sendspace. If it doesn't work, please let me know. I'll also be updating the original post to include this link, and putting notes on the crosspostings.

Argh! Internet, you make me mad sometimes, corrupting my files *double facepalm*