Good morning, hello from the long weekend here in the States, for which I am incredibly thankful. So far, I’ve gotten through paperwork for several of D’s disability programs, spent a ridiculous amount of money and time acquiring food at Costco (packed, but everyone wearing masks) and Whole Foods (surprisingly near-empty, but only about 50-50 on the mask-wearing), managed to get all of said ridiculous amount of food stored appropriately (which necessitated a clearing out of the refrigerator and rearranging both freezers), wrote a bit on the conclusion to the Pike/Tilly fic and finished S3 of Mrs. Maisel (more below).

Ok, ok, before I start really babbling about inconsequential things, I have to tell you to go read destina’s H50 post-series-finale (do you) Love Me Still, which I had the great joy/pleasure/privilege to beta. It is a sublime Steve/Danny with strong supporting performances by Cath and Kono, and faaaabulous ohana. Go, read, enjoy ::shoos::

...and back to reality, I have managed to drop and completely destroy my phone (which, okay, was an iPhone 7S, so overdue for upgrade, but I *liked* that phone. And I had the best phone case, which they don't make for the new phone, sadface) *and* knock my (admittedly cheap chromebook) laptop off the deck and down a full story to the patio below, so I am not allowed any discretionary purchases for the rest of the summer. For awhile, I dealt with my old iPad and an equally old bluetooth keyboard (missing the 't' key cover, which makes for some weird contortions when writing) but I'm still working on taxes and trying to run dropbox and turbotax and excel off of the ipad was making me insane, so I went and got a cheap replacement at Costco. Yeah, so no extraneous purchases for me for the foreseeable future.

Okay, and about The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, which for some reason is a huge favorite across the HoB (right up there with The Witcher and She-Ra, wtf?) ( cutting for spoilers through the end of S3 )

I also finished Picard, which was perfectly fine for this part of my life (I'm saving all my Trek shrieking for the new Pike/Number One/Spock possibilities.) I think I'm onto Fleabag next. I keep circling around The Untamed, but given the number of people I've seen go down hard for that one, I'm a little nervous to start, like, I don't have time at the moment for getting sucked into something so totally overwhelming . I think one of the boys is giving it a try so we'll see what he thinks about wrt to me.

The weather here is sort of cooperating with the traditional start-of-summer vibe Memorial Day is supposed to be, so I have ribs going low and slow on the grill. New recipe for the rub; I will report back. In other food news, I'm cooking my way through Chrissy Teigen's 2nd book and we're 6/6 on recipes now, with 5 of them being just outstanding. (So I guess I'm on that side of the AR/CT divide. Seriously, what the hell was AR thinking?) <--If that means nothing to you, just keep right on scrolling; it's not really worth the time if you're not on the periphery of food!twitter.

argh, I just had to write that about the weather cooperating, because now it's raining and I have to go drag the smoker up under cover which means the whole house is going to smell like smoke, byeee!

From perusing the flist/circle, I gather that it is once again time for the Top Ten On AO3 meme, with optional kudo listing.

( Top 10 by hits )

( Top 10 by kudos )

So, drawing conclusions... I don't know? (You're shocked, I'm sure.) There's a mix of het, slash, and gen-ish romance in there, as well as a mix of fandoms. There are a couple of "big" pairings (McDanno, J2, Wincest) but the rest are a pretty varied set, so I'm guessing people are good with my love of picking out an odd couple and going for it (she says as she gets back to the Bruce/Clint that's languishing in g-docs...)

I think I'm turning this into Rec!Week! These have been piling up all summer and fall; this is the first of three or four posts. I'm working from the oldest ones I had marked, but maybe there are a few you might have missed? I think I managed to leave comments/kudos on everything, but if I didn't, thank you! I loved reading these!

( 15 Avengers + 1 Hawaii Five-0 in this set )

I sort of stopped keeping track of things that I'd read and loved somewhere in May (right around the time I realized I had maybe half of what I needed for Big Bang and OMGFIRSTWEEKPOSTINGDATE) so these aren't particularly new, but I thought I'd pass them along regardless. I really have been reading SPN/J2 Big Bangs, but I think those are going into a separate post (mostly because I need to backtrack and leave comments on stuff, especially the ones I've downloaded for my Reader.) And speaking of fb, I sincerely hope I left some on all of these, in some form or fashion, but if I didn't please know that I really did love your work, life just dragged me off in the other direction.

All The World Is Waiting For The Sun by leashy_bebes, Hawaii Five-0, Steve/Danny, PG-13, ~6500 words === ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ Danny & Grace riding out a tropical storm with advice from Kono and Chin, and Steve coming to check on them. The very best sort of banter and warm-fuzzies, the kind you want to just wrap around you and cuddle (of which there is a bit in the story. Just the right amount.) I mentioned this on lj a while back, but thought I'd include it here, too.

Tiger Soup, by auburn, Hawaii Five-0, gen, R, ~37,500 words === Family (blood and otherwise), what it means to be a cop (the good and the bad), a case fic with lots and lots of shades of gray, all wrapped up in an awesome Kono-voice. AU for the end of S1 now (for the last few eps -- my brain is a little unclear of what happened when at this point, and if I start digging around I'll never get these posted, but you'll be able to follow it just fine) but don't let that stop you, because it still could be how everything plays out with Wo Fat once we sort out the mess from the actual season finale.

The Game Has Changed, by zap99nad, Hawaii Five-0, vid === Spoilers through the end of the season (and how) as Danny starts trying to figure things out. The music is from Tron, and it's a perfect, driving background to Danny's stream of consciousness. I think I watched it 3 times before I could think of something coherent to say in my comment.

You Make Me Happy (When Skies are Grey), by ecarian, Hawaii Five-0, Steve/Danny/Catherine, NC-17, ~5200 words === It's raining; Five-0 is kind of in the doghouse, so they can't go to work; and Catherine has a 3-day pass. What to do, what to do...

Just Temporary, Ma'am, by sutlers, Thor, Darcy/Clint (Hawkeye), R, 4700 words === Darcy is Jane's political science major of an assistant; Clint is Hawkeye (Coulson's "eyes in the sky" when Thor is breaking into try to get to Mjolnir). No, they don't have a single scene together, but trust me, it doesn't matter at all here--they're still snarky and funny and sexy. This doesn't limit itself to only Thor; it pulls in more of the Avengers, which is a big plus for me, because a little Stark Industries craziness is always going to make my day.

I Get By With A Little Help, by frostfire, Star Trek XI, Kirk/McCoy, NC-17, ~2500 words === Kirk is trying to tell Starfleet what happened with the Narada but he's flying so high on adrenaline and victory he can barely think. So, naturally, he turns to his personal physician for a little help. Kink bingo fill for public sex. 'Nuff said.

Call Me By His Name, by sinuous_curve, X-Men: First Class, Charles/Erik, NC-17, ~2700 words === A year after that day on the beach, Charles wakes up to silence next to him. This is very definitely Charles and Erik, so the connection and the sense of wanting and needing is palpable, but so is the loss and grief and heartache.

My list of things that made me happy is growing violently out of control; this is the first part, from my super-awesome, super-talented flist. I'm going to take it as given that I'll have forgotten to comment at least once even with people I know, so please take this as a blanket "thank you; I really enjoyed it!"

Aloha, Dr Watson, by ariadnes_string, Hawaii Five-0/Sherlock, pre-series gen, Steve, John, PG, ~2300 words === I'm developing quite the thing for Martin Freeman's quietly competent John Watson. This is Steve and John in Afghanistan and it rings very true to both canons.

Fudge You, by deirdre_c, Supernatural, Adult NSFW, vid (the full-uncut Cee Lo song) === Dean is less than impressed with the whole concept of Sam/Castiel, which actually is pretty amusing.

This Town's Religion, by destina, Top Gun, PG, vid === We've covered my Navy flyboy issues around here pretty thoroughly, but destina does them one better in this vid by filtering the movie through Charlie. I got a little incoherent and babbled at her, and I still don't have much sensible to say about it. Let's just leave it that it struck me on a LOT ("") of different levels.

Leeward, by dotfic, Hawaii Five-0, pre-series gen, PG, 1000 words === This is Chin and Kono, growing up, and it says so much in just a thousand words.

hum a few bars, we'll remember the tune, by killabeez, Supernatural, gen, PG, ~1500 words === silverbullets has only been going for about a week, but I'm not sure how I got through without a near-daily dose of unapologetic shmoop. This one is Sam and Dean, in that special Winchester way where it doesn't matter if it's Wincest or not because they're so entwined regardless.

Raindrops, by lilly_the_kid, Hawaii Five-0, Steve/Danny, PG, vid === One of the things that makes me happy about H5-0 is that they have these small, quiet moments that they sprinkle in between the chases and the explosions and the stunts and the yelling. They're telling in what they don't say but show, and this vid captures a lot of them (including possibly my favorite of those quiet moments.)

This Year's Wars, by luzdeestrellas, Supernatural, Sam/Dean, PG, ~1200 words === Another one from silverbullets, this one is another way that we (all of us, including Dean) are so freaking happy Sam is Sam again.

The Suspension, by tjournal, Hawaii Five-0, Steve/Danny, PG, ~5000 words === You know it's going to happen sooner or later--"full means and immunity" can only cover so much collateral damage and there's no way our Steve isn't going to blow through those limits. And, of course, Danny's going to be the one to deal with the fallout, even if he is making Steve pay for dinner. WiP but noting it here so I don't lose track of it.

Faster, faster, faster..., by withdiamonds, Hawaii Five-0, Chin/Danny, PG-13, 1000 words === Danny is surrounded by adrenaline junkies, and that includes one Chin Ho Kelly and his motorcycle. Certain portions of Danny's anatomy are completely on-board with that. Very funny, very Danny, very Five-0.

Also, powrhug has assorted drabbles (the exactly 100 word kind) and some longer fic with various pairings in H5-0 indexed here. God knows I love me some Steve/Danny but it's nice to have a different pairing occasionally.

Okay, these have been piling up for a while, plus hammerhead22 and shinycuba have been sucked into the sandy fun that is Hawaii Five-0 and need more things to read, so let's kill the proverbial 2 birds here.

Sometimes A Blue Macaw, by ariadnes_string, Hawaii Five-0, gen, PG-13, ~4700 words === Steve gets hit with a recurring bout of malaria; Danny takes care of him. It's as simple (and awesome) as that.

Put Your Mind At Ease, by eleanor_lavish, Hawaii Five-0, Steve/Danny, NC-17, ~5,900 words === I know I'm the last person in fandom to rec this, but that's because I'm slow, not because it's not fabulous. DADT went away, and it takes Steve a little while to catch up with all that that means. Awesome Steve, awesome Danny, awesome Catherine.

The Win-Win Scenario, by destina, Hawaii Five-0, Steve/Danny, PG, ~4,800 words === Steve's luck finally runs out, and while it's Danny's car that takes the hit, it's Danny that gets hit by an epiphany no matter that he doesn't actually believe in them.

How To Move In Silence, by portraitofafool, Hawaii Five-0, Steve/Danny, NC-17, ~4,300 words === Steve's luck finally runs out, but this time, it's Steve who takes the hit. For the H/C crowd, here, have a Lt. Commander/Special Warfare Operator who didn't get far enough away before the bomb blew, all gift-wrapped and tied up in a bow. He comes with a Danno to take care of him.

Both Sides of the Rainbow, by ariadnes_string, Hawaii Five-0, gen, PG, ~4,400 words === More H/C (good lord, what is coming over me?) Awesome team dynamic as they work to get a bad-ass but injured Kono (seriously, this is no damsel in distress) out of the rain forest before she bleeds out. That's a crappy summary for something that includes everybody sacrificing clothes to the no-bleeding-out effort (helllllooooo, nice visuals) and a perfect Wizard of Oz metaphor, but it's all I've got this morning.

Afterthought, by sheafrotherdon, Hawaii Five-0, Steve/Danny, Adult, ~1,800 words === Post 1.13 -- Danny drags Steve away from the pictures of the toolbox contents, and there is Scotch and yelling conversation and maybe a little bit of understanding reached.

Rockstar (H50 Remix), by eliandrialore, Hawaii Five-0, Team/Gen, vid === Badass team is badass, to a N.E.R.D soundtrack. Sometimes, that's exactly what you need. (hmmm, the video sites did something and DW is having embed issues; try here on 4Shared instead.)

High, High, Very High, by siria, Hawaii Five-0, Steve/Danny, Mature, ~21,000 words === You know you're in for an awesome ride when the first scene involves lunchtime bickering over loco moco (which is awesome stuff, btw, even if it does take you aback the first time somebody hands you a takeout box of it) and the gunfight at the OK Corral. I had to read this with my hand clapped over my mouth to keep my hysterical laughter from disturbing people who were, you know, working. I think the fact that I read 20K words ON MY PHONE speaks for itself. (No kidding, tfg for the Stanza app and AO3's ebook download feature.)


...and just to prove I actually am reading something other than crazy Hawaiian taskforce fic:

Fully Licensed, by atimi, CWrps, Jeff/Jensen, NC-17, ~5,100 words === The author's summary reads In which Jeff is James Bond, Jensen is his Bond girl guy, and there are sharks with lasers on their heads, and really, what else would I possibly need to say?

Mating Flight and the companion piece, Needlessly Complicated, by dragonspell, CWrps, Jared/Jensen, NC-17, ~15,000 words (total) === Jensen's a green rider. Jared's a bronze rider. Of course. Oh, come on, it's a Pern fusion/crossover. You know I'm helpless to resist, and even if the honorifics were making my eyes cross, the sex more than made up for it.

Walk With Me, by JoeLawson, The Losers, Cougar/Jensen, PG-13, 8,100 words === You know what SNAFU stands for, right? This one involves an op gone bad, a walk across the Afghanistan, and unexpectedly sweet Jensen/Cougar. Goodgood Jensen voice.

A Kept Boy, by poisontaster, CWrpf, Jeff/Jensen, NC-17, ~200,400 words === I can't imagine that you haven't heard of this story if you read CWrpf, which sort of renders this note moot, but my little list of things that have made me happy would not be complete without it. For two years (two years), seeing a new part pop up on my flist pretty much made my day. Yes, it has 88 parts, not counting the outtakes (which you should read, too.) Yes, it's a master/slave AU. Yes, it deals with extremely mature subject matter, things that occasionally left me breathless with how carelessly (and carefully) cruel humans can be to each other. Yes, I realize it's going to take you a week to read it. It's all worth it.

It cannot be Dec 20. Can. Not. Be. OMG. While I go into the full-blown pre-holiday frenzy, here, have some more H5-0 fic that has made me really happy over the last few weeks:

Take It From The Inside, by ariadnes_string, Hawaii Five-0, Steve/Danny, NC-17, ~3600 words === Coda for 1x09. Knife kink. Holy crap, this was hot. But you guys know I'm in this for the emotional connection, and I am so happy to tell you that this one nails it. Check the warnings if knife/blood/pain-play is an issue, but this is me, waving all kinds of happy-flags to tell you that it has way more depth (and sweetness and caring and love) than your basic run-of-the-mill kink-fic, so even if knives don't do it for you, Danny taking care of Steve just might.

When All of New York Misses You, by leupagus and sutlers, Hawaii Five-0, Steve/Danny, NC-17, ~15,500 words === Steve's logic in this one? Totally from Mars. So, y'know, completely in character. Long and satisfying team fic that I don't want to spoil, but everybody is so good: competent and stubborn and determined to fix the hole in their lives.

Signals, by destina, Hawaii Five-0, Steve/OMC (pre-series), NC-17, ~1700 words === One of my things about a lot of fic that's written in H5-0 is how it glosses over/ignores/doesn't have a clue what it means to be a SEAL. destina doesn't do that. (Not that this should come as a shock or anything.) This is a McGarrett with laser-focused intensity, one who lives his life balanced on a knife edge. This isn't a long piece at all, but every word counts.

Throw Away The Flowers, by audrarose, Hawaii Five-0, Steve/Danny, NC-17, ~3400 words === Sometimes a girl just needs a H/C fix, right? If she's really lucky, something this excellent will pop up right as she's thinking that and she'll manage to read it on her phone in between a long day of RL and once again prove out the truth in how she does have a life--fandom is what keeps her from committing murder in it.

Pineapples Killed My Neighbors, or This Would Never Happen in New Jersey, Part 1 and Part 2, by ohladybegood, Hawaii Five-0, Steve/Danny, R, ~8100 words (so far) === Canned pineapple starts the zombie apocalypse and Five-0 deals. By turns funny and gory and heart-breaking, with excellent supporting characters (Mary, Max, Rachel, Kamekona... the list goes on.) Still a WiP, but I didn't want to lose track of it. At this point, the Steve/Danny is mostly at the same level as the show but since entire fandoms and thousands of slash fics have been written on far less, that's not really a problem, yeah? (More typos than I'd ordinarily rec, but still, lots of fun.)

Cupid's Chokehold, by nel_ani, Hawaii Five-0, Steve/Danny, vid === Steve/Danny 101, set to Cupid's Chokehold by Gym Class Heroes. Watch it and smiiiiiiile.

Harbors of Our Own, by elandrialore, Hawaii Five-0, Steve/Danny, vid === One of the things that I try really hard to figure out when I'm writing is what each half of a relationship (or third or fourth, you know how that goes sometimes) brings to the mix--everybody needs to be getting something from their partner, right? This vid is a really nice mix of what Steve brought into Danny's life, but as you watch it, there's a lot of what Danny has brought into Steve's, too, all of which makes me v. v. happy.

Fix Definitely As Desired, by giddygeek, Hawaii Five-0, Steve/Danny, Adult, 15,700 words === Seriously awesome banter and character insight; as I was reading this, it felt like where the show left off, this just kept going to whatever was going on in their personal lives, and then we'd pick back up with another scene that'd be on the show. All that, plus hot sex, too. \o/

My last set of H5-0 recs is here (unlocked on DW.)