A List, fannish and not:

I finally finished watching Mando S2 which had me texting the group chat (kids+their D&D crew, aka, my Millenial enablers) ( spoilers )

I'm also caught up (to E3) on Hawkeye and ( spoilers + spoilery speculation from comics )

Non-spoilery: I am seriously contemplating circling back on my HawkeyeSquared fic and mentioning that it's really NOT MCU Hawkeyes, but very firmly the Fraction/Aja Hawkguy and Kate that I'm writing. I mean, these two are great and I really like their interactions but yeah, not shipping them at all.

I've started in on the holiday movies -- new this year has been A Castle for Christmas, complete with a Scottish castle (ish, more like a grand house, but, eh, close enough), a grumpy duke (Cary Elwes and he wears a kilt *very* well), snow, horses, and a tiny, plaid taxi. Also, knitting and main characters not in their 20s. From a previous year was The Knight Before Christmas, which I watched as I put the tree together (more on that later), which was good b/c even with hand-fluffing an 9-foot tree I had to practice deep breathing as our titular knight, time-traveling from 14th Century England to Ohio, as one does, and pretend he was waxing rhapsodic about Christmas trees because he got to burn the ceremonial tree down in the village square? He had a very pretty horse,though. And at least he was wearing chain mail, not plate armour. And was very heroic.

As mentioned obliquely above, I finally caved and bought an artificial tree b/c real trees in the size I like are too heavy to deal with alone and really, much of the reason I resisted for all these years circles back to my dad, who, as some of you might recall, was a real piece of work (or an abusive asshole, take your pick. I try to go with unmedicated bipolar and sit with a little gratitude for how well he took care of Mom after all the cancers, but yeah, ISSUES, I has them.) Anyway. At some point during this ridiculous pandemic cycle, I decided that I could spend the money to get a tree that didn't look fake, put it together at my own pace, and burn a Diptyque Sapin de Nuit candle. So, I managed to get a 9-foot Fraser fir on sale from Balsalm Hill (unlit, b/c O.M.G. the pre-lit ones were more than I spend on trees for 10 years (and I am not known for buying cheap Christmas trees from Home Depot.) And they come all scrunched up so you have to fluff them. Branch by branch, section by section. It took forever, but it's done, it doesn't look fake, and I am hopefully going to get lights on it tomorrow when I am off work to deal with some health stuff for D.

And finally, to the last of the popslashers on my circle/flist: sorry for earworming you with the icon, but do like the song says and enjoy!

Title: ask ourselves what road to take
Fandom: The Avengers / Agents of SHIELD / Hawkeye (comics)
Pairing: Clint Barton / Phil Coulson
Rating: NC-17
Length: ~ 47,100
Disclaimer: Not mine
Notes/Warnings: Established relationship, canon-typical violence, H/C (physical and emotional), PTSD, reconciliation, lots of friendships and a bit of TEAMFEELS. Also for the deathfic prompt on my trope_bingo card (but it's okay, because we all know where canon went with that thing that happened in The Avengers, right?)
Summary: Clint knew it was going to be bad as soon as he saw Fury standing in front of him. 

Link on AO3: ask ourselves what road to take

Summer colds are such a drag. Not that I especially like winter colds, but at least I'm not missing out on lazing-by-the-pool time then.

One plus is that I'm napping during the day and dreaming vividly, with the real bonus being plots streaming through my subconscious. It's always fun to dream my favorites in Technicolor, especially when I remember enough to make notes and outline plots. #ijusttakedictationaroundhere

...and daily bookmarks:

know you're not alone, by curiouslyfic, Hawkeye, Clint Barton/Steve Rogers, ~1300 words, Teen === For so few words, a lot happens here. Terrific Kate Bishop voice.

With a Capital T and that Rhymes with C and that Stands for Agent Barton, by the_wordbutler, Iron Man 2/Thor | MCU, Clint Barton/Phil Coulson, ~2200 words, Teen === Pancakes on the way to Thor's hammer.

I am *this* close to finishing the Bruce/Clint fic my brain somehow decided was a good idea (16k and counting; also, seriously, brain? I haven't written in months and now we need a 3 page sex scene? seriously?) and then I can start paying attention for real to the Hawkeye/Black Widow I want to do for marvel_bang. I didn't do so well with spn_j2_bb despite having an idea I was stoked about; crossing fingers and toes, etc, etc, etc, I can do better with this idea.


Today's favorites, old & new:
jury (in my head), by blueskypenguin, Avengers | MCU, Clint/Coulson, Mature, ~12,400 words === Post-movie fix-it, team feels, judicious helping of H/C and PTSD. I know there are dozens of fics that fit that description, but this one has stayed with me for a long time.

Frequently Asked Questions, by Mad_Maudlin, Hawkeye, gen, Kate Bishop|Clint Barton, Teen, ~2300 words === There's a little bit of Secret Avengers in here, but don't let that stop you -- this zips along and packs a good amount of emotion in with the exasperated (epistolary) banter as Kate tries to deal with Clint not remembering who he is.