I'm in the middle of reading that 90k word Oxford Time Travel story, so who knows if I'll get any more recs done before the reveal, but I do still have a ton of stuff I want to read. In the meantime, here's another batch of recs - only 8 this time, so no cut:
Push
birds of paradise by [Anonymous]
Nick makes a decision and he and Cassie both have to live with the consequences. Oh my heart.
*
Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries
fighting vainly the old ennui by [Anonymous]
Brilliantly done AU where Phryne is a cat burglar and Jack is the police inspector on the case. I also really love the friendship between Jack and Mac here.
*
Rivers of London
Fifty silver bells and nine by [Anonymous]
Excellent casefic set between Broken Homes and Foxglove Summer (so no spoilers for the latter). (There is some weird formatting stuff going on though - extra spaces inserted in a lot of words)
*
Discworld
every map is blank by [Anonymous]
The words you use are a sort of magic, too, because Tiffany’s thinking about all the problems with the story but she’s also thinking about the words “fell and wild”; she’s tucking them into the back of her mind, and thinking that in her next letter to Preston she’ll give those words to him. When he writes back he will say it sounds like wolves in the snow, or something else she could never have thought of, which will be exactly right in the way Preston’s ideas are always exactly right, exactly what she hadn’t known she’d always wanted to hear. in which Tiffany considers the future. Gets her down perfectly. <3
*
Guardians of the Galaxy
Gather Near to Us by [Anonymous]
Peter convinces the others to celebrate Christmas. Oh, this is lovely. I teared up a little.
*
Ms. Marvel
cause a hundred veils to fall by [Anonymous]
Absolutely darling Kamala-Nakia friendship fic. ♥
*
The Flash
home is a place by [Anonymous]
Sunday night dinners in the West-Allen family. Really lovely look at the West-Allen family over the year from Iris's POV. *sniffle*
*
The Queen's Thief
A Ruby Held Up to the Sunrise by [Anonymous]
The story of how Gen came by the ruby earrings. Wonderfully in tune with canon.
*
There's still time to guess what I wrote! Three stories, two gen, one het!
***
Today's December posting meme topic is also about writing:
December 30:
![](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
umadoshi asked, Of all the stories you wrote this year, which one pushed you most as a writer?
I honestly don't know that any of them did? At least not anything that was finished. I don't tend to be someone who feels the need to write outside my comfort zone, though I do it when I get an idea that I can't *not* write. But it's not something I consciously think about, in terms of "I must always be striving to write things that make me bleed" or whatever. Maybe if I wrote original fiction? But that's not why I write fanfic.
This year writing anything was hard, mostly because I couldn't really ever get out of my own way long enough to finish things.
I guess if pressed, I might say
Knee deep in it (@
AO3), because I was very certain I didn't want to soften Viper at all, despite any attraction - or even fondness! - she might have for Steve, which goes against my usual inclinations to make everything warm and fuzzy.
***
And here's another year-end meme:
Your main fandom of the year?
Marvel movieverse, Captain America corner.
Your favorite film watched this year?
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Your favorite book read this year?
The Outskirter's Secret by Rosemary Kirstein
Your favorite album or song to listen to this year?
I'm not so much an album person but for songs, "I Wanna Get Better," "Level Up," and "Get Hurt." Also maybe "Stray Italian Greyhound" and "Goodnight New York."
Your favorite TV show of the year?
The Good Wife or Arrow
Your best new fandom discovery of the year?
Jane the Virgin! The Flash! Or The Clone Wars. Ahsoka Tano & Asajj Ventress are characters I didn't know I needed in my life! Plus I still need to post about the successful characterization of Anakin Skywalker as more than a whiny pissant.
Your biggest fandom disappointment of the year?
Agents of SHIELD or Gotham. The casting for Doctor Strange. That Ant-Man exists. That no other network picked up Enlisted.
Your fandom boyfriend of the year?
Steve Rogers &/or Bucky Barnes.
Your fandom girlfriend of the year?
KORRA. Or Rosa Diaz.
Your biggest squee moment of the year?
"Bucky?" "Who the hell is Bucky?" Man, that whole movie experience was just gold each time I saw it.
The most missed of your old fandoms?
I always feel nostalgic for Remus/Sirius in the fall, and I always kind of miss Firefly.
The fandom you haven't tried yet, but want to?
There are shows I need to watch, but I tend to get around to them eventually.
Your biggest fan anticipations for the coming year?
AGENT CARTER. Age of Ultron. Star Wars: The Force Awakens! PLEASE DON'T SUCK!
***
Last night, I made
rosemary, gruyere, and sea salt crisps (
pic) - it was mostly an experiment, since it didn't really yield enough crackers to feed a crowd (only ~44, before I ate the raggedy/broken ones - I had to taste test!), possibly because I didn't roll them out thin enough (stupid space limitations), or possibly because I didn't knead the dough long enough - it didn't take kindly to being picked up and moved around the tray - but overall I'd say they were a success, since I made them without a food processor and they were dead easy.
The hardest part was grating the gruyere, and did I ever mention that when I first started cooking regularly again, I bought a bowl with assorted grater lids? (very similar to
this set) So I just used the cheese shredder and got the cheese all in the bowl. I let the butter soften, since I knew I'd be doing it by hand, and the recipe suggested that it softening was the idea (as opposed to when you use it cold and want it to remain cold - then I would have done the grate the frozen butter thing), and that was the most time-consuming part (because I'd meant to put a stick out when I left for work in the morning, and of course I didn't). Because I was doing it by hand, I used 2 extra tablespoons of butter, but I don't think it really mattered. And I used my 1" square biscuit cutter instead of cutting with a knife (since I don't currently have a fluted pastry cutter).
They taste great, though when I texted L, I was like, "there's not nearly enough for a bunch of people! You'll still have to buy a box of crackers." And she was like, "...I was already going to do that? Why would you make crackers?" And I was like, "well, if they turned out badly, I wouldn't have mentioned it, but they taste good!" So they're packed away in tupperware for now.
I think I might do the rice tonight, so it has time to cool off, and then figure out the order of things for tomorrow - I think the only thing I need to run out for is fresh bread (as much as I love the idea of making my own bread for this, it did seem like too much on top of everything else), and I'll pick up anything that seems to be missing at that point, I guess.
I realize it seems like I'm obsessing, and I kind of am, but I haven't thrown a party in years, and I want it to be nice.
***
This entry at DW:
http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/717989.html.
![](http://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=musesfool&ditemid=717989)
people have commented there.