Birds and Weekend Recs. This Week: Old Guard (2), Sentinel, Quantum Leap, + multiple crossovers
I should have known the jelly-feeding would grow. Soon after they showed up in the spring, the birds were emptying the jelly bowl (6 ounces) in about 22 hours. I had to refill it earlier each day, and sometimes I wasn't home (visiting Cindy). So I put up a second one, and then a third. You should see the overhang of my porch -- three jelly-feeders and a nectar feeder... and they eat all the jelly in those 3 bowls (18 ounces) every day!!! Sometimes it's like a buffet bar out there -- two birds at each bowl, and three or four perched on the honeysuckle planters waiting their turn. At least having that many has cut down on the fussing; if one is crowded, the bird goes to the next. Although there are still spats; the other day, I saw two finches, each one at separate bowls. One finch switched to the bowl with the other finch, landing on the opposite side of the bowl -- and then they sparred open-beaked with each other for about 10 seconds before they settled down and ate peacefully across from each other.
The problem is keeping enough jelly on hand; I'm going through 5-1/2 jars (24 oz each) per week, and Walmart didn't carry enough of the no-high-fructose style earlier this summer, so I had to special order twice. Walmart has had enough the past few weeks, so I keep stocked up. The top of the fridge will hold 16 jars (arranged where I can reach without a step-stool), so each shopping day, I buy enough to replace what I've used that week. When the birds start migrating and the jelly demand decreases, I'll keep a full 16 on hand to be ready next spring without having to worry running to the store.
Interestingly enough (at least to me), I saw one of my curved-billed thrashers enjoying a sugary snack last week. I have no idea if she was only sampling, or if I've just missed a bunch of visits. I really should set up my own bird cam so I can keep track of these things more easily... Yeah, that falls under "maybe someday".
Fandom: The Old Guard
Fanwork Links: The Opposite of Love
Category: M/M
Rating: Gen
Length: 5,000 words
Summary: Nicky and Joe always had each other, they are destined to be together. It couldn't possibly be any other way, right?
&nbp; &nbp; &nbp; &nbp; Wrong. The immortals are destined to meet each other, but the relationships they build are entirely up to them. All relationships require work.
&nbp; &nbp; &nbp; &nbp; Nicky and Joe are in love. Yusuf and Nicolò are most definitely not. Somehow, the four of them have just traded places...
Reccer's Notes: An intriguing -- and unsettling -- glimpse of a universe where Nicolò and Yusuf never even became friends, much less lovers and soulmates. It’s even more unsettling for the pair -- and the not-pair -- to learn how their other selves live. Lots of food for thought as the characters discuss their choices and circumstances. Hint: the opposite of love is not hate.
Characters: Joe, Nicky, Yusuf, Nicolò
Relationships: Joe/Nicky
Themes: Fork in the road, Getting back together, Post-canon
Content Notes: None
Warnings: None
Status: Complete
Fandom: The Old Guard
Fanwork Links: I Love You as Certain Dark Things Are to be Loved (in secret)
Category: M/M
Rating: Mature (I'd call it explicit)
Length: 5,400 words
Summary: The friends with benefits AU, but they're immortal idiots so it's lasted centuries.
Reccer's Notes: Two guys who won't admit they love the other because they don't know their love is returned shouldn't be so charming. But it is, and very well done.
Characters: Joe, Nicky, Andy, Nile
Relationships: Joe/Nicky
Themes: Domestic, Post canon, Friends with benefits, Pining
Content Notes: None
Warnings: None
Status: Complete
Fandom: The Sentinel and Quantum Leap
Fanwork Links: A Novel Solution
Category: Gen
Rating: Gen
Length: 13,500 words
Summary: Sam Beckett Leaps into Blair during the events of "The Sentinel by Blair Sandburg." His mission, to find a better solution to the problem of the dissertation.
Reccer's Notes: Of course it's been done -- avoiding the dissertation fallout by telling everyone it was a novel -- but I particularly enjoyed this version. While Sam pulls Blair's fat out of the fire, Al gives Blair some insight into his relationship with Jim. These two fandoms mesh well together (of course, Quantum Leap is built for that ), and it's fun to see Sam floundering around, trying to figure out the solution. It's a nicely-crafted feel-good fix-it, so Jim and Blair can go forward from a better place than the show gave us. As so often, this story inspired me to make a cover.
Characters: Sam Beckett, Al Calavicci, Blair Sandburg, Jim Ellison, Megan Connor, Simon Banks, Naomi Sandburg, Donna Alessi, Beth Calavicci, Tina (Quantum Leap)
Relationships: Friendships -- Sam & Al, Jim & Blair, Al & Blair
Themes: Fork in the road, Friendship, Fix-it, Crossover
Content Notes: None
Warnings: None
Status: Complete
Fandom: The Sentinel + multiple Crossovers
Fanwork Links: Imperfections series
Category: Gen, F/M, MM
Rating: Gen to Mature
Length: 384,300 stories in 15 stories
Summary: If Blair's washing out of the guide program, who's taking care of Jim?
Reccer's Notes: This series is stupendous. It's a Sentinel AU where sentinels and guides are known and (relatively) common, with specific training and accreditation for the guides. This 2007 post, where Izhilsha rhapsodizes about the series explains it much better than I can. The worldbuilding is complex and detailed where it diverges from canon, and the sentinels and guides are as varied as RL people; there's no "set" way for either of them to act and/or react; we see difficult adjustments as well as easy adjustments. The series is sweeping and expansive and totally engrossing.
The main crossover is Sentinel & Monk, but in various stories, Dasha brings in characters from Highlander, Numb3rs, due South, Bones, Psych, and Quantum Leap, but knowledge of those fandoms is not necessary. Dasha deals with the characters, not the fandom, and they can be regarded as OCs if the reader doesn't know them, learning about these guest characters as Jim and Blair do.
Stories 1-9 are the "main storyline", Jim and Blair settling into their new status as sentinel and guide and dealing with all the other sentinels and guides that they meet. (Ignore the 1/? on story #8; Dasha may have intended more, but the ending is not a cliffhanger; it feels more like a teaser/lead-in to story #9.) Stories 10-15 are "side roads" that follow separate sentinel-and-guide pairs; Jim and Blair may not be around, but they're all in the same universe.
I would expect that everyone and their sisters and brothers have already read this but, if not, and if you're at all interested in The Sentinel fandom, you're in for a treat.
Characters: Everyone from Sentinel fandom + main characters from other fandoms + OCs
Relationships: Jim & Blair friendship, Rodey McKay/John Sheppard, Duncan/Tessa MacLeod, Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski
Themes: Fork in the road, Crossovers & fusions, AU - Sentinels & guides are known, Series, Worldbuilding
Content Notes: None
Warnings: None
Status: Complete
Please comment on the Dreamwidth side.