and the ready-men / defiant drinkers and charmers
Apparently this is now an m/m romance rec blog with bonus mental casting pic spams. Let's just roll with it, shall we?
The other night I came across Helena Maeve's In the Presence of Mine Enemy, which is a short(ish), intense, and fantastically hot story about two former spies. It's also a story featuring an older man whose age is treated with realism (amazingly enough) instead of the typical shorthand of silver-haired sexiness; a narrative voice framed by an extraordinary professional perspective; and a romance between a brash spy-turned-hired gun and his former mentor/handler that doesn't play out as expected, but delivers quite an emotional journey and some hard-earned second chances. (Plus, the best use of the word "rubicund" ever.) There isn't much plot, and the flashbacks are brief and spare, so much of our insight into the characters and their relationship gets to be extrapolated from how they treat each other in the present, or rather, how they have sex. Because that's mostly what they do in this story (bless).
Speaking of porn: you remember a few years back, when we heard that Colin Firth and Tom Hardy were going to be in the same spy thriller movie? Well, THIS story is basically the fic I never knew I'd dreamed of - obviously an AU, but not by much, and in my head Hardy has waaaaay better hair. So basically... check it out.
And now, the visual aides. Since I obviously can't help myself.
Colin Firth as Hailey:
Tom Hardy as Adam:
...yeah, this really works in my head. Ahem. ENJOY.
The other night I came across Helena Maeve's In the Presence of Mine Enemy, which is a short(ish), intense, and fantastically hot story about two former spies. It's also a story featuring an older man whose age is treated with realism (amazingly enough) instead of the typical shorthand of silver-haired sexiness; a narrative voice framed by an extraordinary professional perspective; and a romance between a brash spy-turned-hired gun and his former mentor/handler that doesn't play out as expected, but delivers quite an emotional journey and some hard-earned second chances. (Plus, the best use of the word "rubicund" ever.) There isn't much plot, and the flashbacks are brief and spare, so much of our insight into the characters and their relationship gets to be extrapolated from how they treat each other in the present, or rather, how they have sex. Because that's mostly what they do in this story (bless).
Speaking of porn: you remember a few years back, when we heard that Colin Firth and Tom Hardy were going to be in the same spy thriller movie? Well, THIS story is basically the fic I never knew I'd dreamed of - obviously an AU, but not by much, and in my head Hardy has waaaaay better hair. So basically... check it out.
And now, the visual aides. Since I obviously can't help myself.
Colin Firth as Hailey:
Tom Hardy as Adam:
...yeah, this really works in my head. Ahem. ENJOY.