HOMG, People

Oh, books, I wish to gorge myself on them. Yay for old gift certificates, I say.

Read Proven Guilty and Jim Butcher continues to rock hard. So hard, in fact, that I am afeared for the future Dresden Files. Also, if Ebenezar turns out to be the traitor, I shall cry. Because Harry does not need more angst in his life, what with his Traumatic Romantic History, Orphan-Boy Pain, and oh, let's not forget, his just-renewed Doom of Damocles.

Just finished His Majesty's Dragon and jesus christ, it rocked so hard that I am running out to buy the sequel now. I can spare five bucks on m'birthday. Especially since I didn't get that pie.

Had a piece of tuxedo cake from Albertson's instead, and it was ample and delicious. Though, y'know, pie.

But oh, wow, my brain kept squeeing and going Laurence + Temeraire = BFF!!! It is awesomeness and I'm eventually going to do a whole thing on why.

After I read the sequel. So, like, tonight. Before I type up my shortlists, even.

Seriously, SO GOOD.

Shortlist: SGA_Flashfic

01. Ethnocentricities [Culture Clash Challenge]

Hands down, my all-time favorite Teyla/Sora story. It's chilling and awesome and gorgeous.

02. Good for What Ails You [38 Minutes Challenge]

Teyla gives Rodney an Athosian remedy for allergies. There are some...unintended side effects. Hilarious and wonderful.

03. Mercy [Slave Challenge]

Oh, god. Aliens make them do it. In public. With restraints. And it is ridiculously hot.

04. More Than Enough [Voyeurism Challenge]

Bates spying on John and Teyla. For the good of Atlantis, of course. Bates and his suspicious-bastard mindset rock in this story.

05. Neither Helpful nor Comforting [Shark Challenge]

One of my absolute favorite entries from this challenge. John and Rodney, trapped in cave. With no radios. Instead, they get sharks. And the water's rising. it is beautiful.

For the rest of the list, go here.

Shortlist: SGA_Flashfic 2

01. No Refunds or Exchanges [Harlequin Challenge]

An AU where John comes to a declassified Atlantis as Rodney's mail-order bride. Oh, the Harlequin challenge; how I loved you. It's Shalott, so of course it's a good story. But specifically, it's a very good Harlequin story; everything from plot to tone fits the genre beautifully. There's angst, and pining, and true love. How could one ask for more?

02. Quest [Amnesty Challenge/Slave Challenge]

Oh, wow. This is a Ford-POV McKay/Sheppard story. It also happens to be the story of the team's daring rescue of McKay from slavery, which... It's really well-characterized - funny, but you also get to see things like Teyla's pragmatism and Sheppard's possible-psychosis.

03. Shock [Stories About Buildings and Food Challenge]

I love anaphylactic shock stories. Which, y'know, sounds horrible, but I'm a hurt/comfort girl and this is one of the most plausible types of hurt, especially in Stargate fandom and especially when it comes to Rodney McKay.

This story on particular is very well done; it's one of my favorite gen stories in SGA.

04. The Hostage Major [Harlequin Challenge]

Another story from the Harlequin challenge that manages to incorporate everything I loved about Harlequin novels and still fit in boykissing besides. In this one, Rodney holds John hostage as part of a byzantine plot. So, of course, they bond.

05. magus_minor's Shark Trilogy (Out of Sight, Obvious Place, and Open Blade) - written, of course, for the Shark Challenge - was sequeled by ix_tab in Ripped and torn, again by ellex42 in Predator, Shiver, and Frenzy, and finally, by kharessa in Incision.

The original trilogy features a very dark John, who has, for his own...gratification, stashed away a video clip of Rodney's torture by Kolya. Rodney finds out.

The various incarnations of this story contain BDSM, character death, slash, and torture. Oh, and darkness liek woah. That having been said, this story is awesome and I don't care if it squicks you, read it anyway. Seriously, it is crazy-wonderful, in a completely horrifying way. And how can you resist a story where you can basically choose your own ending: horrific, fucked-up, or twisted but happy?

For the other 45 stories, go here.

Shortlist: Femslash

01. Bed and Breakfast (Kaylee/Inara) [Firefly]

Short, sweet, and simple. This is exactly the way I'd want this relationship to go.

02. Embroidering the Truth (Arachne/Athena) [Greek Mythology]

A different spin on an old tale. I always felt sorry for Arachne, but this broke my heart for her.

03. such romantic notions (Go Go/O-Ren) [Kill Bill/The Ring]

Ridiculously romantic, in both a completely psychotic and a charmingly archaic way. Go Go questing to win the love of her lady-fair.

04. Three Scenes That Could Be A Beginning (Polly/Mal) [Discworld]

Okay, Polly/Mal? OTP. And this is the best Polly/Mal story I've ever read. It sounds like Polly. Also, y'know, courting.

05. Whither (Rory/Paris) [Gilmore Girls]

Paris goes to Luke for advice and refuses to leave until she gets it. This manages to be one of my two favorite Rory/Paris stories even though Rory isn't onscreen during this story at all. It's awesome, and rings bizarrely true.

Rest of the stories are here.

Shortlist: Prompts, Table 4

01. Hospitality (Various) [Stargate Atlantis] {AU}

Oh my god. This story is horrifying. I mean, it's an AU where John, Teyla, and Ford get brainwashed into conscienceless thugs so they'll take over a city for a local chief. That goes badly enough, what with the torture and murder and threatened noncon. But the author got pleas for more and gave us a dozen different endings. And in those endings we get to see everybody corrupted, everybody dead, everybody traumatised... A whole range of unhappy endings.

02. Five Days a Week (House/Wilson) [House] {Discovery}

Five ways the ducklings find out about House and Wilson. Oh, wow, there aren't words for awesome this story is. It's absolutely hilarious, for one thing. For another, each story is from a different POV and every character reads true, which is quite a feat.

03. Living Arrangements (Crowley/Aziraphale) [Good Omens] {180 Degrees}

Hell's got nothing on heaven when it comes to punishing the defiant. God, this story brought me to tears.

04. Temps Perdu (gen) [Angel] {Quandary}

An absolutely gorgeous alternate ending to season five of Angel. This story also deals wonderfully with some of the show's issues with memory. And there's UST in every direction, which is fun.

05. War Profit (Ryan/Seth) [The OC] {Book}

This story continually reminds me why I have that giant crush on Seth Cohen. Also, there's lit-geekery. And boykissing. It's like my dream story!

For more stories, go here.