I was getting together a rec post for Sherlock and AIRPS, and then realized I couldn't find this one--and I can't believe I didn't mark it correctly when I bookmarked it--and it's kind of driving me crazy.

It's Sherlock BBC, Sherlock/John, with Sherlock as asexual, they have sex and Sherlock really doesn't like it, but he does like the cuddling and snogging bits. Sherlock POV, very sweet--well, this is Sherlock, so sweet for Sherlock. I know there are several good ones in the fandom, so if you also want to rec some, that would be nice as well. I love the porn, but this is the first fandom I've been in where asexual romanticism is very much a genre and it's been fascinating to read it. I think I've hit most of them, but I'm totally open to re-reading.

Anyway, a few of the current recs. You have probably already seen these, but I'm okay with that.

AIRPS

NOT UPDATED YET GOD WHY - Starstruck by akavertigo, Adam/Kris, AU. I am not crying or anything, for the record (yes I plan to keep this up indefinitely.)

Paying the Rent by astolat, Adam/Kris, AU. Its' literally the sweetest, fluffiest, most adorable rentboy fic ever. It also hits like, most of my kinks that don't involve sharp objects and guns, and is as warm as caramel melting off a spoon. Daww. Oh Kris. Only you.

Through the Storm We Reach the Shore by stickmarionette. Gorgeous, long exploration of Kris, Adam, relationships, and Kris being admirably ruthless.

Always the Best Friend by jeyhawk, Adam/Kris, Kris/Brad, AU. In which Adam has logical breakdown and Kris gets kind of tired of it. God I love Jeyhawk.

Tightly Knit by jeyhawk, Adam/Kris, AU. A knitting fic. *enchanted* In which Kris owns a yarn and knitting store--YES HE DOES--and Adam learns to knit. To say this makes me squee happily is to seriously understate the case.

rememberingAlly by blue_scribbles, Adam/Kris, highschool AU. This one surprised me when it turned out that the high school au part was not setting or excuse but plot point and done shockingly well. I've read this about--God, thirty times now?--and every time I'm still bowled over by how much the author did with this cliche until I forgot it was a cliche at all. Warnings for character death prior to story beginning and child neglect/abuse. This was just--wow. I feel weird calling it comfort fic, but it really is, in all the best possible ways.

Dreaming Out Loud by jerakeen, Adam/Kris, AU. Oh God, this is everything I love in comfort fic. Kidfic and romance and telephone relationships and just--God. Jerakeen's my go-to when I'm having a bad day anyway--seriously, her fic is long, lush, happy-ending'ed, and filled to the brim with plot, dialogue, romance, and utter sweetness, so like, that's a given--but this one just makes me stupidly happy. Also with cut scenes!

Sherlock

The Death and Resurrection of the English Language by wordstrings, Sherlock/John - you don't need to read the two earlier fics, but it's recommended for context and for the fact it works in new and interesting ways if you have: An Act of Charity and Paradox Suite. This one is Sherlock POV and interestingly stable despite the fact that Sherlock is anything but. A fascinating view of what goes on in his head as well.

And You're The Prize by giddygeek, Sherlock/John. Mycroft kidnaps John to hurry the Sherlock/John UST up a bit. Mycroft is a fangirl. A terrifying, terrifying fangirl.

Kid in a Candy Store by fialleril. Sherlock needs a new riding crop and as there are no bridle stores nearby, he goes to the next best place. With John. Thing is, I can see this happening. Especially with the dildos. Just. Yeah.

Unusual Symmetry by Mresundance, Sherlock/John, asexual romance. It's a very neat encapsulation of their relationship, committed and even romantic but not sexual, and how John and Sherlock go about it.

A Packet of Crisps and a Retcon Pill by jinxed_wood, gen, crossover with Torchwood. I felt bad for Gwen and the rest of it--yeah. I can see this. Sherlock's observation skills--and for that matter, his interrogation skills--are really in evidence.

That Thing You Like by Miss Pamela, Sherlock/John. John goes home for Christmas with Sherlock and stops arguing about whether they're together or not. I like John's POV, and I especially like how he works this out through the story. And the pub thing. God did I love the scene in the pub. And for the record, yeah, Sherlock's mom scares me. Kinda see where Mycroft gets it.

Let Me Kiss You by out_there, Sherlock/John. This kind of started as an escalating kissing situation, with John not entirely sure what's going on but he seems okay with it anyway. Also, Sherlock is not subtle. Nice long read.

Talk About the Blind Leading the Visually Challenged and The Game Is On. It Is So On. by pforte, Sherlock/John. Okay, besides being a good ship fic and being very good with the characters, also hot and kinky and yeah, read now. Happy.

Pedestrian by vegarin, gen. John and Moriarty before the end of The Great Game. I might have recced this already, but it deserves a second rec; this is one of the best John fics I've read, period, and may be my favorite in the fandom just for how much the author did with this, both establishing John's character and more than that, establishing completely what John and Sherlock are to each other.

This exchange:

"You, Dr. Watson, are assisting me with testing a theory on Sherlock Holmes, who, minds you, despite my best effort - all right, maybe a mediocre effort at best - still remains somewhat of a mystery, which pretty much happens, well, never. And I can assure you, John, you will enjoy this."

Fantastic. John tries not to sound too dubious. "And how much, pray tell, will I be enjoying this trying process, exactly?"

"Oh, very much, I should think. You'll finally be convinced he does, in fact, care for the lives of others, especially for yours." Moriarty is mockingly benign. "You did want to know, yes?"

Something in John goes cold. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Either Sherlock will waver at the sight of you, or he won't. Which do you think it will be, John? Wouldn't you like to find out?"

And John's eventual answer to it. This story is, for me, the John character analysis. Wry, witty, practical, resigned, and determined all at once. And so very real.

Untitled Hotness by ladyflowdi - um. Hot. Kitchen sex. Wall sex. Table sex. With butter. Go.

I have two days until we lose five testers and four contractors entirely from my department and I can tell you right now, this cannot end well. So instead of pondering how my life will turn into a darkness I cannot imagine, recs!

All Kradam, per usual.

Still Not Updated!

Starstruck by akavertigo - it's very depressing. I don't want to say I am crying, but in two days? It could happen.

New Ones!

Hunt - WIP - insanely well written--and I do mean extremely well written and stylish--vampire AU. Okay, here is where I just beg--please update this? Whoever wrote it? Please? Some semi-explicit violence, but this is me and I find it in this context kind of insanely hot? So yeah. This is good. Dammit. Worth reading for the flawless style alone even in wip form and yes, hot.

Soulmate Root by silsecri - Complete! Yay! Okay this is kind of insanely adorable. Adam tries to grow a soulmate. It's, IDK, adorable.

Steel Angel - Complete! It's a needle kink, so if that doesn't work for you, yeah, DNW. If you are neutral on the needle issue, yeah, go for it, like now. It's fascinating from a kink perspective as well as how they go about it.

The One Involving Ginger - Complete! I have no idea what to say about this, since most of us do not have issues with ginger but also probably wouldn't instinctively put it to this use. So that's kind of insanely hot, so you know, thanks, now I know what I'll be thinking next time I buy ginger for Thanksgiving. Explicit D/s.

Yeah, I need to cheer myself up. All AI, all Kradam.

Completed! Papa Don't Preach (title will never not be awesome) completed! Kradam mpreg, and possibly a crossover with The Exorcist? Or Children of the Corn near the end. You'll see what I mean.

Added to! Queenrider K'ris Dragonrider AU with two new sections! And thank God for this: new sections 3A and 3B and anyone but me want to kill the entire weyr for making K'ris sad? Yeah. Exactly.

Not Updated Because She Hates Us! Starstruck by akavertigo has not updated. Not bitter, and she can thank K'ris for that, being all cute and downtrodden and seriously, his dragon should eat everyone.

Not Updated But Will Be One Day Soon Maybe? Backwards, aka The Spanking Fic of My Heart, and as I didn't know I a.) liked spanking fic or b.) liked enough of them to have like, a rating system, yeah, this. It's not complete, but um, pretty sure what's there will work for you.

Complete! Proof of Life by moirariordan - Ummm. Read prompt? Did you? Yeah. It's even better than that.

Complete! Jet Plane from Places prompt on teamcockert, yeah, go read right now. There is no possible way this will not improve your day and like, maybe your life and faith in humanity and like, IDK, level of personal satisfaction with the universe.

So porn really does make everything better, right?

Who is epic? That would be keewick who vidded Merlin to I'll Do Anything For Love by Meatloaf. Yes, the long version. No, the really long version of nine minutes. Yes! Who does that? She does! And it's totally worth watching. This is one of those moments where people will ask "Did you watch the nine minute vid to Merlin?" and you want to be able to say yes. Yes, you did.

Taking a moment from stalking akavertigo (and hey, who is holding on to her kidneys anyway?), Kradam Mpreg, yes, a wip recced to me by herself above. It's kind of hilarious and I feel bad for Kris and kind of hate Daniel but it's weird, I always love Adam even when he's a douche. Also, it's funny to see Kris panic. I mean, every day is panic day!

Okay, that's all I got. I'm trying not to look at the aianon anymore in teh next hour? For productivity!

ETA: Link to vid added. I swear when I did this it was here. Obviously it was eaten by monsters.

How to make me pout myself into hysteria (if you are not akavertigo, who already does that):

Dragonriders of Pern Kradam - I did not know how much I wanted this and it is only two comments. Dammit. To be honest, I didn't know I wanted it. Now I do. I want like, a series of strangely intriguing novels, and yeah, I agree; if I were a greenrider, I'd be like, stabbing people when they said my dragon was proddy. Oh yeah. See if they liked that prodding.

I am connecting.

So basically I'm going to be torturing myself for a while reading prompt answers blind never knowing if they are finished (if you are one of those who wrote like, multipost porn and then stopped and at least one involved spanking? Oh my God. I almost failed a script at work out of spite or possibly like, not paying attention, IDK).

Aground Upon the Sea by minglingcrab - AIRPS, Adam/Kris, others.

I have been trying to figure out how to rec this and keep coming up short because I have to start with this: this is a hooker merpeople AU, and I can actually see people twitching, and seriously, stop and just go read it anyway. I don't know what this is, because crack will never be the right word to describe it. It's rich and bleak and takes such breathtaking leaps and went places I didn't know were there and dragged me straight through to the end, an entire world created and explored and examined. It's nothing like I expected, and it's nothing like I could possibly have expected anywhere.

This isn't a story anyone should miss. This is why fanfic exists--to take something known and make it something new and startling and unexpected, twist expectations into tight knots and leave you breathless and confused and awed by what was done here. And the last two lines kill me every time I read them.

And that's all I'm giving on this one for spoilers; it has to be read to understand why I'm still looking at it and thinking I seriously, seriously love fanfic when it can do something like this.

Because averzierlia is awesome and totally had a vision ....

Imaginary Castle - hypothetical purchases and puppies, related to House Hunting II.

See, these things make days so much better than they were before. So. Much.

Whee!

Going to hang with transtempts in Seattle and go to Adam's concert in July! God, so looking forward to this. I miss traveling; I haven't been out of state since November for svmadelyn's birthday.

Adventures With iTunes

Due to recent purchases, my new six degrees of separation when looking for music is now John Mayer. That is an improvement over Burning Season but not like, much. He's like beyond hit or miss; he's like, one out of twenty songs, and never live. But I hate Burning Season because it's been pushed at me by Genius for like, a year now.

I explained in my last entry about buying songs on the anticipation I'll eventually like them, because I have no idea, it just works for me, along with songs I listen to and love the first time.

Songs I Loved on Acquisition

Before the Worst by script - this is because Breakeven ended up not being quite a writing song but really close and this one tipped over into it. Also does well with humming.

So Long, Stereoside - this one embarrasses me. I had them blacklisted because of a somewhat racist, misogynistic, homophobic (trifecta) song but while staring at Genius hatefully, I played this one and loved it. After downloading, I went to look at their album. Cue wtf. I do like the song. I just wish I hadn't given them like, my money.

(I'm not actually usually that ethical in my music or like, that much being able to pay attention. For some reason, that one song bothered me hugely. Stupid song.)

Desperately Wanting, Better than Ezra - they, like Gin Blossoms and Counting Crows and Wallflowers fall into what I call my Continuum of Good Enough. The problem is, the Continuum of Good Enough (music I can listen to within my general musical taste; I never really cared about music in an active way until the advent of the mp3 because I hated buying CDs for one damn song) stopped actually working like, three years ago with a Toad the Wet Sprocket acquisition that burned out my ability to get in touch with my inner post-grunge, and anyone with even a vague resemblance gets a suspicious look. However, Ezra had one song I liked. And I so do.

Come on Get Higher, Matt Nathanson - I just love the rhythm on this one. In this category, add The Middle, Jimmy Eat World and Give a Little Bit, The Goo Goo Dolls. I run these three on repeat with She's So High, Kurt Nielsen, for the energy. And the easy to sing lyrics. Sometimes I throw in Miley Cyrus' Party in the USA for reasons that don't bear exploration except it's a really hilarious way to pass the time at work between builds.

Bound for the Floor, Local H - svmadelyn linked me to this one last night. The sound isn't the same as Your Decision, Alice in Chains, except maybe in genre technically, but this one is the one that hit me perfectly. Alice in Chains I like to listen to, but this one I put on repeat for like, hours. They also do an intriguing cover of Britney's Toxic. I don't know if I like it, but when it comes up on rotation, it does get my attention.

Forever, Vertical Horizon - I have such a soft spot for them--I wrote a lot of QaF fic to them, and they were the first song on the first MP3 player I ever had (not an iPod).

Recent Acquisitions That Are Not There Yet:

Hey Now, Augustana - I do like this one, but it's not quite in my head yet. Also, Sweet and Low and Stars and Boulevards. I can feel I will really like these soon.

The Script Album, Script - I was already two for two on them, so why not? Potentially The End Where I Begin as well. I'm still working on my appreciation of the others.

My current Continuum of Good Enough (songs I will at least like if not love, unless they are The Fray, which I love like ice cream and long lost coffee) is The Fray, The Goo Goo Dolls, Vertical Horizon (no idea why) and Coldplay. I'm irritated that OneRepublic seems to be in this family and yet I'm just not feeling their music, and Snow Patrol is so hit or miss it gets on my nerves.

OTOH, I am doing well not buying more Hinder, One Less Reason, Three Days Grace, or Placebo, because I was getting some seriously disturbing Genius recs from that little group.

So, anyone else acquire new music?

Part A

Dell fought me and fought me, because they totes don't want my money (God, I think I should just start signing off my paychecks to them and amazon already; it would make all our lives easier), but by God, I got a replacement keyboard for my laptop (and wasnt' that hideously expensive) and a new internal hard drive (which ironically cost the same as the keyboard). I don't actually know how that part is going to go; I really want a new laptop, but I hate Vista and I am wary about Windows 7 since people were perky about Vista in self-defense for about six months and then it all went to darkness and tearing their hair out and crying hysterically, so yeah. So the hard drive is larger, faster, and compatible, so that means I'll trnasfer everything to an external, panic, install XP on the new hard drive, and reinstall all my stuff. This might also have a welcome secondary purpose of a clean install of XP--this thing is slowing down more every second.

Part B

I am delaying more Christmas shopping until I need the retail therapy. With work the way it is, I feel I am going to need it soon. Possibly by Friday.

Part C

One day, I am going to stop playing All American Idols (but Mostly Adam Lambert) All the Time, but that's not yet. I really don't know how I feel about the fact that I cannot, for the life of me, stop chanting For Your Entertainment everytime the C2 (conversion) environment at work goes down. I know I have a really questionable relationship with computers and networks, but I'm not sure I want to acknowledge it's become a bdsm scene every time I try to run my tests, and the environment isn't giving me a safe word. Nor do I feel good leaving it--sort of dirty, and not a little used, and not in a good, wholesome way. Computers and I have always played rough, but I'm afraid my limits are being reached.

In other words, another day like today, and I don't care if the windows are shatterproof, my CPU is going through the window at a rate of speed roughly what I can manage in a dark, mindless rage, and let me tell you, that's going to be really really fast.

Part D

You know, I think the preceding section may cover my emotional equilibrium nicely.

Chimera by nymphaea1, AIRPS, Adam/Kris, in progres--this may be the only good thing in my life (aside from the new keyboard). It's a WIP, and read it anyway, because it's fantastic. Magical realism, world-building, show-not-tell, elves, a war that's over but not for those who fought it, and everything I never knew I wanted in a story. And several things that I did.

You could go to the llus-gorn and trade the memory of your first kiss or your ability to feel the sun on your face. The fey were hungry for human experience and would pay heavily for it—though to be fair, the trade went in both directions. But the hottest selling items were the darker ones—the memory of your husband’s last breath as he lay dying in the hospital or the last fading remembrances of flight from a pixie who’d lost his wings. People would go in there, thinking they were ridding themselves of their most jagged pieces, but they forgot that a llus-gorn always kept his word. They took the memories, but not the emotions that accompanied them. It left people lost in a depression they no longer had the context to understand and then had no possibility of healing.

....

“You didn’t have to do that.”

Adam snapped his attention back to Kris, sharp and dangerous. Not human, Kris remembered.

“He’s not touching you.”

That was rich. “But you, you’re totally on the menu, right? That’s--”

“Necessary,” Adam said. He held up a hand. “And that would be true even if I were alone.”

He squeezed Kris’s shoulder. “It’s not anything I’m excited about—but there are ways of dealing with them if you know what you’re doing.”

“Everyone says that.”

Adam raised an eyebrow. “I’m not everyone.”

Run, do not walk. Four parts so far. Warning for violence in parts two and three.

ETA:

Part E: I am not Typhoid Mary for keyboards, svmadelyn. I cannot make it break by the power of yahoo suggestion. Otherwise holy God would I be using that power every day. You know, when I had to. Not for like, petty revenge purposes or anything. For non-petty and epic revenge, of course.

We have achieved:

1.) Turkey and deliciousness. My God, the deliciousness. There was corn souflee.
2.) Completed uploading all QAF and all single-entry-in-LJ Merlin fic to Archive of Our Own, link here for those who have really been hating reading in LJ format.
3.) Bought Adam Lambert's album in deluxe, and I kind of can't work out where this is coming from. Yes, I know, astolat, but also, seriously, I listened to him during AI and I liked some of it (I love covers that recreate the original song in interesting ways; I have a playlist that's nothing but covers), and the AMAs were--wow, and the video was amazing, but--okay, yeah, astolat did this. Plus, Whataya Want From Me has been on repeat for about twelve hours now because like I once explained about my dysfunctional relationship with music, only one in ten songs I like and only one in a fuckload more become an obsession that turns into a spiritual journey (fictionally speaking) and hey, this one is it.

I seriously, seriously love this one and For Your Entertainment. They are writing music. They have their own playlist.

Granted, varied with Kelly Clarkson's Already Gone and Daughtry's Life After You and I don't know about anyone else, but I see a pattern here. The only reason David Cook isn't playing is I burned through him writing Merlinfic earlier this year and I haven't recovered from it yet.

I am turkey-enabled and listening to Adam Lambert while re-reading astolat's AIRPS fic. I mean, I'm sure someone somewhere is having a better Thanksgiving, but I cannot see how. I'm not even wearing pants! (I am wearing pajamas.) In bed! There is pie later!

Random recs from the last forty-eight hours of reading.

House of the Living by astolat, AIRPS, zombies. No, really. Zombies. And done so beautifully I kind of hurt from reading it. And really, there should be more fic with Adam armed. Yes, my kinks are not your kinks, but Adam is shooting things and--wait, why isn't this your kink? You are weird.

We Are Not Your Friends (We're Here to Eat You), a fusion of AIRPS and True Blood. This should not work and yet it does and does it well.

Bluebird by basingstoke, Torchwood/Addams Family, Jack/Ianto. Look, I would not steer you wrong. It's everything that Torchwood is in it's craziness and everything that the Addam's Family always has been, no matter how much we didn't know what we were watching before. It's pretty awesome.

Still Life by Jeepers, Star Trek RPS, Zach/Chris. This one is incredibly well written and sharp and sweet by turn. It's one of my favorite re-reads in the fandom.

*settles down with more fic*

Before I forget again.

American Idol RPS

Explanation: You see, it's because astolat and celli write it, so really, I think we can call this fictional coercion, because I am not a big RPS reader, but them, yes. It's like out_there as my Prison Break dealer.

Real Forever If by astolat - if this wasn't astolat, if this wasn't AIRPS, if this was about a man and a squid*, I'd still read it because the premise fascinates me. The neat part is, I read the AU label and went, hmm, and started reading to see what happened and it was not-AU, not-AU, not-AU, hey, where's the...

It took nine words.

"You're in the early stages of fixating," she said.

And then I said "Oh" and then I read it a few times a day for about two weeks or so and kept it open in my browser window to re-read. And I'm re-reading it now. Since you know, it's here and all.

Woke Up Married by celli - the premise is the title, and the title is the premise, and that is the philosphy. The execution is anything but that simple. It's cute and it's fun and I read it while it was in progress and whined when I didn't get my fix and then Celli blocked me (okay, she didn't, but it makes a good story if I say that, and then I can ask for a pony and someone will feel so sorry for me they will send it).

******

*if it were astolat, I might. otherwise, I'd do a find/replace "squid" with "dean winchester" to see how that would work and create a new and exciting way to traumatize myself badly.