Dec 12:

I realized I hadn't done one today, so I'm adapting another post into a rec!

Tam Lin by Pamela Dean is a unique fantasy novel.

The title leads you to think it's going to be a retelling of the ballad, and it...kind of is, at the end, anyway. But most of the book is just about a bunch of undergrad literature/Classics majors running around a small liberal arts college in the 1970s while vaguely supernatural things happen around them. It's a very odd book but I love it lots.

Dec 13:

If you ever found yourself going, "Wtf was going on in D.C. on January 6, 2021???" then have I got the podcast series for you.

Straight White American Jesus did a series called Charismatic Revival Fury that focuses on the New Apostolic Reformation, a contemporary US religious movement that does not get much attention but that is HUGELY influential on US politics.

It's 8 episodes long and gives you all the background you need to understand this very weird, very scary, very powerful strain of white American Christianity.

Dec 14:

I am super excited that Onew's Circle (link goes to the whole album on YouTube) got named the best Kpop album of the year by Billboard. Because it is and also because I love seeing my faves acknowledged.

I am Ron Swanson: "I think all awards are stupid, but they'd be less stupid if they went to the right people."

It's one of the world's great injustices that it took this long for SM to finally let him release a full album, but it was worth the wait. It's so perfect and whether we ever get another one after this, I am just glad we got this one.

Thanks, Jinki!

Dec 15:

White Christmas is an 8-episode Korean drama that aired on KBS in 2011. For those of you for whom this means something: it was written by Park Yeon-seon who also wrote another of my favorite kdramas Age of Youth (streaming on Netflix as Hello, My Twenties).

But this show is tonally nothing like Age of Youth. It's a psychological thriller and not a slice-of-life drama, but I love it as much as I love Age of Youth.

The premise: It's Christmas break for Susin High, an elite private school--so elite, in fact, that only the top 1% of students in the country can get in. Susin is already a place of cut-throat competition and a bad environment for anyone who cares about mental health. But things are about to get a lot worse.

In the days leading up to Christmas break, seven students receive black envelopes containing a threatening and ominous message, asking them to stay behind at the school over break.

So when everyone else packs up and leaves for the holiday, those seven students and one teacher/chaperone are left in this glass labyrinth of building in the mountains, miles away from the nearest town. A stranded stranger survives a car wreck nearby and stumbles to the school to ask for shelter.

And then, of course, there's a snowfall, trapping them there until New Year's Day.

And people start dying...

The characters are (almost) all damaged teenagers who have tons of baggage--the school bully, the school prankster, the model student, the school sweetheart who's turned into a bad girl, the neurodivergent kid, etc. All of them are interesting and compelling and all of them are really hurting. They're smart, smart enough that sometimes you forget how young they're supposed to be, and then they'll do or say something that reminds you, "Oh, yeah, these are just kids." I love to make jokes about my murder babies, but I sincerely love all of them. (Me earlier that day: I never cared for Mooyul.)

And the modus operandi of the villain (if this show can be said to have something as conventional as a villain) is to use each kid's trauma against them. They're trapped in this labyrinth with their own pain and with the question that hangs over everything: are monsters born or made?

The plot is twisty, in a "look what human beings will do" kind of way. The suspense comes mostly from asking what people are willing to do to survive. It's an ensemble and each character gets a moment to shine, but it's got the benefit of being short, especially for a kdrama.

The downsides: This show skews WAY more male than it really needs to. There are two female characters, both of whom are very cool (for certain values of the word "cool"), but I really don't understand why it's so boy-heavy since it doesn't seem to be saying all that much about gender (except that, you know what? It really sucks being the girl that everyone has a crush on. It really does).

It's also dark. Not that dark--it's not graphic, there's no real sexual violence, the trauma that the kids are carrying around is more alluded to than explored deeply. But it does contain themes of suicide and self-harm and there is some blood, so it's definitely not one you should watch in a fragile moment.

The final episode has some plot holes...but they're just plot. The ending is (to my mind) incredibly emotionally satisfying despite them.

Warnings for: Suicide, self-harm, drug abuse, medium-intensity violence.

Dec 16:

A movie this time!

The Vast of Night is an indie scifi film from 2019. Set in New Mexico in the 1950s, it's about a series of UFO sightings and it is SO GOOD.

Per wikipedia: "The film follows young switchboard operator Fay Crocker and radio disc jockey Everett Sloan as they discover a mysterious audio frequency that could be extraterrestrial in origin."

There's so many things I like about this film--the characterization, the ten-minute-long tracking shots, the plot + worldbuilding that are rooted in the American myth of UFOs in a way that feels familiar but not stale, the Twilight Zone homage of it all.

This movie all the proof you need that budget size isn't what matters: it's all about the passion and talent of the people making the film. I truly can't wait to see what the writer/director Andrew Patterson does next!

Dec 17:

I've been trying to stick with things that might get overlooked or that aren't super popular. So here's a book I wish more people would read because I think they'd really enjoy it.

The Steel Seraglio by Mike Carey, Linda Carey, and Louise Carey is a unique fantasy novel.

From GoodReads: "The sultan Bokhari Al-Bokhari of Bessa has 365 concubines - until a violent coup puts the city in the hands of the religious zealot Hakkim Mehdad. Hakkim has no use for the pleasures of the flesh: he condemns the women first to exile - and then to death. Cast into the desert, the concubines must rely on themselves and each other to escape from the new sultan's fanatical pursuit. But their goals go beyond mere survival: with the aid of the champions who emerge from among them, they intend to topple the usurper and retake Bessa from the repressive power that now controls it."

This book is SO MANY WOMEN! Different kinds of women! Who care about each other!

Dec 18:

So let's do #DecRecs and I will recommend another book!

The Dazzle of Day is a science fiction novel by Molly Gloss (who happened to be a close friend of Ursula K. Le Guin).

It's a generation ship story that explores the time before the ship, during the ship, and after the ship through a variety of characters.

What makes it different than most science fiction is a) the more "literary" writing and b) the fact that this particular group of spacefarers are Quakers and Gloss is ACTUALLY INTERESTED in the specifics of how their religion would manifest in their community-building, mostly through the process of consensus-making.

I am quite sure a lot of people would find this book boring or slow, but I love it. It's so rare to find any kind of good [religion]-in-space fiction, and this one also has a believable approach to how people would react upon reaching a planet after living their whole lives on a spaceship.

Dec 19:

If you miss a day of a meme or writing or any other project...just don't worry about it. That's my rec.

Dec 20:

Actually, you know what? I'm reccing it for #DecRecs

It's a Wonderful Life has a reputation for being saccharine, but that's a shame. It's actually a film about the importance of small lives lived decently & with love & generosity.

It actually becomes very dark at times--it doesn't flinch away from the darker parts of life & the heartbreak of broken dreams. There is a content warning for a suicidal character, though suicide does not happen.

It's also an anticapitalist film in a very explicit way. The villain of the film is the ultimate capitalist and he's depicted as selfish, greedy, & grasping.

It's so cathartic--I always end up SOBBING at the end, but in the best way. Roger Ebert used to say that it isn't sadness that made him cry in movies, but goodness. I'm the same way, and this movie is about goodness that is earned and worked for. It's one of my favorite movies of all time.

Don't let its reputation as a Christmas film scare you away--it really isn't. It's for any time.

Dec 21:

Another podcast I enjoy that I think is very underrated: Mobituaries, hosted by Mo Rocca. whom I know from writing Wishbone, being a talking head on various VH1 "I Love the [Decade]" shows, and Wait Wait Don't Tell Me.

Each episode is a medium-dive into a figure or phenomenon in American life told with his characteristic mixture of humor and sincerity.

Some favorite episodes include the ones on John Denver, Soccer the Dog (aka Wishbone), Laura Branigan, Anna May Wong, the Gros Michel banana, and Jim Thorpe. The one about the end of the "miscegenation ban" in the US made me cry. But all of them are worth listening to.

I love a host who genuinely finds people so interesting and is so compassionate towards them. Mo never sacrifices accuracy for humor either. I really don't understand why this podcast doesn't have a bigger following than it does!

Alright, I've finished The Guest and loved it and now I need something new to watch. I've been out of the kdrama loop for several years now, so I don't know what's been good the past few years.

I'm looking for:

+ something serious. no comedies, please.

+ but not melodrama

+ really good relationships of any kind (romance, family, found family, whatever)

+ good female characters

+ contemporary

+ Sticks the landing at least decently

+ bonus points if it includes a prickly, difficult to love woman who nonetheless gets loved

Also somebody tell me if Save Me is any good; cults are definitely my thing but it looks too dude-heavy.

My favorite kdramas of this kind: White Christmas, Healer, The Guest, Shut Up! Flower Boy Band (look, I know, but it's serious enough to be on this list there is so much crying in that drama), Beyond Evil, Mawang, City Hunter

Other kdramas that aren't really of this kind but that are my faves: Age of Youth, Queen In-Hyun's Man, Coffee Prince, Replies 1997 and 1988, It's Okay Not to Be Okay, Flower Boy Next Door, Crash Landing on You

First: some recs!

+ indiesnopp is writing the Fic I Didn’t Know I Always Wanted: Hyunsoo from Shut Up! Flower Boy Band meets a non-Infinite-member Lee Sungyeol. YES THAT’S RIGHT. EVERYTHING I EVER WANTED. And it is so good so far. So good. Hyunsoo is his prickly little secretly-vulnerable self (ANGRY PUPPY!) with Byunghee issues and anger problems, and Sungyeol is Sungyeol, and there is nothing about this I don’t love. Y’all should read it. It is here.

+ aerintine has written something else I didn’t know I always wanted, which is long Matt/Rebekah fic. It is perfect and wonderful and you should all read it. It is here. [Note: those of you on my flist who did TVD Big Bang: I still have your fics open in various tabs. I am definitely going to read them and give you feedback! Hopefully soon! Holidays are approaching, after all!)

+ theramble, who along with parkslady has been trying to win me over to the One Direction Side of the Force for, like, ever has written a 1D introduction post. WITH META. IN SECTIONS BECAUSE IT’S LONG. You people do understand how much I love meta, especially, apparently, real people meta. I am just so myself: constant obsession with narrative structure and imposing it on the real world even though people resist that sort of thing. Whatever. This post is DELIGHTFUL. And it is here.

+ Also I am reccing myself. I know probably most of you are sick and tired of hearing about my kpop problem, but y’all. But y’all. There is so much to love here. And I have put together a playlist of my favorite kpop videos, and I think even if the music isn’t to your liking or if you’re just sick of my fannishness, you might still be able to find some stuff you’re interested in. I’ve included little descriptions below, so you can skip around and find the ones you think you might like (DYSTOPIAN BADASSERY. QUEER KIDS IN LOVE WITH THEIR BFFS! BADASS LADIES DANCING! Whatever!). I hope some of you find some stuff you enjoy! It is here.

( descriptions of the vids are here )



+ Also, this is not a rec, but I’ve been writing het!porn (gender!swap) lately for the first time and ( cut for not very tmi at all discussion of writing porn )


+ Also-also: my family is going to Florida the week after my birthday AND I WILL BE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD. You people who haven’t been don’t understand, but it is possible to love Disney World as an adult even if you don’t care very much about Disney. The Magic Kingdom is fun and I don't much care about Animal Kingdom but EPCOT AND MGM, Y'ALL. I could live in those parks. I love them so so much. EPCOT is like a theme park for nerdy people: different countries and rides about science and everything is nerdy and nothing hurts. And MGM is all about the movies, from Star Wars to the Muppets, and I love it too. This will be my fourth time going, I think? And I get just as excited as I did when I was 10 and was getting ready to go for the first time. And so do my parents and little sister. We're all very excited.

And I will be going to Harry Potter World. Yes, you're jealous.

So anyway, that's the thing I'm majorly looking forward to at the moment. How are y'all? Life treating you well? Excited about upcoming holidays? What's going on with y'all?

Hey, y'all! Have some recs!

+ Tangled: Freudian.
*AU* Flynn Rider's terms of parole include going to therapy, and they don't expressly forbid hanging around with that one awkward graffiti girl.
OMG Y'ALL READ THIS. A contemporary AU of the best kind, it makes me flaily and happy and it's just deliriously wonderful. I cannot even. It's a WIP, but it was recently updated, so I think it's safe to start it.

+ Vampire Diaries: Talk You Down.
Use your heart, not your head.
Grayson and Miranda Gilbert have an important discussion. I wouldn't have thought I'd enjoy a fic about Elena and Jeremy's parents but this is a great little look at life in Mystic Falls.

+ The Book Thief: pro patria mori
It is good and sweet to die for one's country—because if you say a lie long enough, loud enough, and often enough, people are going to believe it—ten people who didn't.
OH MY HEART. Read this if you've read the book and let your heart bleed.

+ Wizards of Waverly Place: call that a comeback
Alex destroys the world. But really, its all Justin's fault. Written for apocabigbang at LJ. Post 'Wizards vs. Werewolves.'
ALEX RUSSO CAUSES THE APOCALYPSE. I know it's a stupid kids' show on the Disney Channel, but I love Alex and Justin so much. And ever_neutral, if you don't know Alex Russo, you should change that. YOU WOULD LOVE HER.

+ Nu!Trek: World as We Know It
Leonard McCoy doesn't hate Jim ALL the time. Just, you know. Mostly. // You couldn’t subdue Jim Kirk if you put a muzzle on him. And anyway, McCoy’s looked it up, and they don’t make them for humans. Jim/Bones friendship.
Kirk/Bones is my favorite bromance. THESE BOYS.

+ Doctor Who: the woman named to-morrow
Of course she misses it.
A little slice of Martha/Mickey, that appreciates them both. Why is there not more of this in the world?

+ Life with Derek: move in circles around you
disasters are kind of their specialty.
I don't understand why there is so much quality Derek/Casey fic in the world, but I am so glad there is. Here's the latest.

+ Sherlock: Sustain (or Concerto for the Famished in D Minor)
"So now you're behaving like a six year old 'cause he didn't take you along on his honeymoon?" Lestrade said. "Grow the hell up."
Um, so this is a Molly/Sherlock fic. A long Molly/Sherlock fic. A believable Molly/Sherlock fic. So, um, you should probably read it.

+ Hunger Games: The Unrecorded Hours
Katniss and Peeta in the weeks and months after the war.
Oh, hey! It's a long, satisfying fic about the Katniss/Peeta stuff I really wanted to see which is: when they actually fall in love (because I'm not convinced it happens in the books. I have very mixed feelings about this pairing and its potential vs. its execution. Anyway). This is kind of moody and quiet and it makes loads of sense. It fits perfectly in before the epilogue and it's become canon to me.

+ Hunger Games: Scylla and Charybdis
Finnick decides that, come hell or high water, he is bringing his tribute home from the seventieth Hunger Games. That tribute is Annie Cresta. But Finnick never thought that he would have to choose between bringing her home and keeping her safe, and he wants both. How Annie Cresta crept up on Finnick Odair.
I SHIP IT SO HAAAAARD. I want ALL the Finnick/Annie fic. Gah, I love living in Finnick's head. Best boy.

+ Hunger Games: and our dreams will break the boundaries of our fears
Johanna and Finnick flirt with rebellion, and learn that the Capitol has teeth.
This fic hurts my heart, but in the best way. Gah.

+ mollivanders has some thoughts on Molly Hooper which are excellent. Oh, oh, oh Molly.

+ upupa_epops has brilliant, brilliant thoughts on Katherine and Elena (and by extension Damon and Stefan)

+ lutamira has stats about the Oscar noms that are simultaneously depressing and not at all surprising. [eta--this is flocked, too! But the article is here and if you want to rant, you can totally do it here in the comments]

And now I'm going to go back to work/taking breaks to read Derek/Casey fic because who am I.

+ mollivanders has some thoughts on Molly Hooper which are excellent. Oh, oh, oh Molly.

+ upupa_epops has brilliant, brilliant thoughts on Katherine and Elena (and by extension Damon and Stefan)

+ lutamira has stats about the Oscar noms that are simultaneously depressing and not at all surprising. [eta--this is flocked, too! But the article is here and if you want to rant, you can totally do it here in the comments]

And now I'm going to go back to work/taking breaks to read Derek/Casey fic because who am I.

Because I have a few, and none of them are Yuletide related. They're all just stuff I found while browsing AO3 while bored at work.

Leverage:

Techno-Wizardry. "Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced." Alec is on board with this argument. A little ficlet about Hardison being a Tech God. Because he is.

FANDOM IS SRS BZNESS. So then, because he’s Hardison, he created a fandom. post-the Gold Job. A meta, geek-love celebration of fandom and its ways, all issuing forth from Hardison’s brain of perfectness. If you have any familiarity with this fandom at all you must read this. OMG I CAN’T.

four times hardison told his nana he was sorry, and one time he said he was (but he totally wasn’t) Sometimes, a geeky fanboy has to do what a geeky fanboy has to do. Obviously my new favorite subgenre is “Hardison participates in fandom with bonus fandom meta!” fic. Because, y’all, Hardison is so one of us.

Life in theTwenty-First Century. Alec Hardison, if pressed, would probably suggest that he subscribes to a post-modern definition of identity. Hardison figures out who he is, sexually and otherwise, via fandom. I think ladyofthelog in particular would be interested in this one.

Nu!Trek:

Your Mom. In which Kirk, Sulu and Chekov feel guilty for no good reason, Spock feels bewildered, and McCoy feels an aneurysm coming on. If everyone listened to Bones, their whole lives would be better. Basically, male bonding, only Spock isn’t so good at that.

In Which the Enterprise Is Like a Village. Turns out, despite the vast emptiness of space, and the worryingly illusory protection offered even by Starfleet's finest vessel, and the sheer likelihood of being taken out by an unexpected cosmic event (sure, those nebulae look pretty now but up-close they're just a disaster waiting to happen) and/or Klingon attack (McCoy's sure it's going to happen any day now) and/or new and fatal alien disease (probably sexually transmitted; probably Kirk's fault), life on the Enterprise isn't as far off a village as you might expect. Gen!space!family!times. Basically: Nakama 101.

That’s What Friends Are For. The Enterprise crew takes take of each other. They are friends, they went through thick and thin together, and they are violently protective of theirs. They are family. Everyone loves everyone else and everyone is BFFs and everything is beautiful and nothing hurts.

Harry Potter:

journals and ice-cream series. Draco Malfoy: ex-Death Eater, former bigot, divorcee, and single father. His wife left him for Viktor Krum, his children worship the Weasleys who clash with the décor, something is rotten at Hogwarts, and he doesn't really know what he's doing. But maybe he's getting the hang of it. Draco in this fic has absolutely nothing to do with Draco in canon. Maybe less than nothing. But this series is fun. And silly. And occasionally strangely moving. I don't even have any particular feelings for Draco, and I enjoyed this. It's fun.

Dollhouse:

Whatever Remains, However Improbable. Victor and Sierra are imprinted as Holmes and Watson, but the engagement does not go as planned. For fans both of Dollhouse and Arthur Conan Doyle. Only the most basic working knowledge of DH is required to enjoy this fic. Which you should read because it is DELIGHTFUL.