Will They, or Won't They?

Feb. 23rd, 2026 01:08 am
mxcatmoon: Miami Vice Trudy (MV 13 Trudy)
[personal profile] mxcatmoon
Writing it such a fascinating process. Like, I'm riveted to this scene playing out -- I have no idea how it's going to end.

When I began writing, I intended it to be a Rico/Trudy fic that was consummated. I had a very clear idea of what would happen. It was going to be sweet and poignant.

Then, the characters had to put emotions and motivations into the process. Now, it's a battle of will they or won't they. Who knows?! Trudy is willing, and her reasons are touching and sweet. Rico is being Mr. Moral, coming up with reasons why they shouldn't.

So, the jury is still out. I have no idea who is going to win. I just know that Rico is a twenty-first century guy living in the twentieth century. I've noticed that in previous fics. I have no idea why, but I let the characters be who they tell me they are, so. Is it something I'm picking up on in canon? Going by the way he is with Valerie, I'd be doubtful, but I write on instinct and I won't force myself to go against my instincts.

The Jewish War: Second half of Book 1

Feb. 22nd, 2026 07:06 pm
cahn: (Default)
[personal profile] cahn
Last week: Some really interesting discussions on (among other things) Caesar Augustus, the temple in Egypt, and the destruction of the temple (in Jerusalem) as divine punishment and also free will.

This week: More Herod! Definitely went quite a bit faster than last week! Featuring lots and lots of family drama... the kind that includes a ton of bloodshed. I'll talk more about it in comments.

Next week: [personal profile] selenak can you give us a halfway point for Book 2? It looks a bit shorter but I'm also going to be crunched for time next week (and definitely won't be able to post until Sunday) so half a book is what it's going to have to be!

Sunday Check-in

Feb. 22nd, 2026 06:34 pm
mxcatmoon: Rico/Sonny kissing (MV 12)
[personal profile] mxcatmoon
Not doing anything structured at the moment, just ala carte work. I still have some stuff to catch up on, like I haven't posted all my three-sentence fic that I wrote over here yet.

Read more... )

Update on Donald Strachey

Feb. 22nd, 2026 06:57 am
mxcatmoon: Sonny Rico hug (MV 06)
[personal profile] mxcatmoon
TUBI!

I just found out the movies are streaming on Tubi -- for free! So go at once and check them out!

Watch Third Man Out: A Donald Strachey Mystery (2005) - Free Movies | Tubi

And a cute vid to 500 Miles by the Proclaimers.

Good things recently

Feb. 22nd, 2026 04:18 pm
adore: (daydreaming)
[personal profile] adore
Was reading a fic and laughed out loud at it.

Am delighting myself writing Dollshops & Deathmages. I'm halfway done and happy with how it's shaping up.

Had an excellent peach kombucha to drink.

Have the house to myself for a glorious while, because my relatives are travelling.

Am enjoying a k-drama tremendously. Undercover Miss Hong. It's halfway aired, let's hope the rest of it is just as good. (You know those silly Hollywood action movies where there's a guy doing some kind of secret operation, and women who are in the narrative all have crushes on him, and he's too busy doing Important Stuff to notice? Imagine if it was the heroine doing stuff too Secret and Important to pay much mind to the men growing feelings for her, and you have Undercover Miss Hong. Trust k-drama to make something assuming *I* am watching the way other media industries make things assuming men are watching. And it features strong female friendships!)

Three out of the five things I have put down here are related to stories. μ—­μ‹œ, whenever I'm happy, stories are usually at the heart of my happiness.

Donald Strachey on sale

Feb. 22nd, 2026 04:23 am
mxcatmoon: Crockett and Tubbs (MV 05)
[personal profile] mxcatmoon
PSA: The Donald Strachey movie, On the Other Hand, Death, is currently available for purchase from Amazon for $4.99 (I think the SD version is $2.99). They are also available to those who have Here TV.

I bought Ice Blues on sale a year ago, and I was thinking about the movies tonight, so I thought I'd check. They are so good! If you like film noir style, detective stories, with LGBTQ+ characters and themes, and an adorable ship, these will not disappoint!

It was especially amusing as I was getting some Sonny/Rico vibes from Don and Tim. LOL. Just a couple of little things (they aren't really anything alike). I think it was the 'married couple' vibes, and how well they know each other. I don't know why. Maybe extrapolation. I think this is very much how Sonny and Rico will be together in my future fic where they are an established couple.

But Don and Tim are so wonderful together. You shouldn't miss them!

One of these days, I'm going to give the books a try...

candyhearts ex works (2 buck/eddie)

Feb. 21st, 2026 06:07 pm
svgurl: (911: buddie poker)
[personal profile] svgurl
[personal profile] candyheartsex had creator reveals and this is what I wrote. :)

Title: i don't want anybody (but you)
Fandom: 9-1-1 (TV)
Pairing/Characters: Buck/Eddie
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 1821
Summary: The real reason Eddie doesn't date.

Title: not an ending (just a new beginning)
Fandom: 9-1-1 (TV)
Pairing/Characters: Buck/Eddie, Christopher
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 1565
Summary: When Buck watches Abby leave, he doesn't expect to immediately run into the two people who will be his future.

Actual. Legit. To. Be. Read. 2026

Feb. 21st, 2026 06:57 am
tjs_whatnot: (reading leads to...)
[personal profile] tjs_whatnot
...or...

I Want to Finish What I've Started: Author Edition
 
 
The first 3 authors are the ones were I've read *almost* everything they've written. The last 3 are authors were I've read one book but loved it so much that they *might* be an author I need to read all of their work. The rest are just authors I've loved and want to read more of. 

TJ Klune (of course) )
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Inferno

Feb. 20th, 2026 11:46 pm
extrapenguin: Northern lights in blue and purple above black horizon. (Default)
[personal profile] extrapenguin
Procrastinating on my Tit4Tat assignment and listening to today's new release, Dreamerie by FlowerLeaf. (Kimara, I think you might enjoy The Wake!) But! I have also been reading! ...Dante Alighieri.

This is the 700th anniversary edition, translated by J.G. Nichols. It's ... surprisingly hand-hold-y. Like, each canto is prefaced with a prose explanation of what happens in the canto (spoilers!!!!), and adds footnotes in support of readers who can't count (e.g. "So in the smallest circle, at the centre" is footnoted as "The ninth and last"; Inferno XI) and who can't keep track of pronouns (sooo many occurrences of "Named Person, did this and that, and lo, a slightly long description! Is heΒΉ still alive?" with a footnote on "'He' refers to Named Person"). Judas Iscariot is given an explanatory footnote. ("Who betrayed Christ") One would think that anyone operating on even a pop culture osmosis level of Christianity would realize that the Judas dude being specially punished in the hell for betrayers is probably the one who betrayed Jesus.

Anyway! I have read Inferno, and just started Purgatorio. The translation is eminently readable, with transparent verse. (I guess I'd hoped for a slightly more showy take to mine for fic titles, but I'm not complaining.) Also Dante and Virgil's relationship, though probably considered normal enough by the standards of the period, comes across as very homo by present ones: Dante is incredibly appreciative of Virgil guiding him through the way, gets carried around by him, and kisses his cheeks with gratefulness on multiple occasions. Not really that many thoughts, but. Reading. Classics. I fully expect to go WTF at Purgatorio and especially Paradisio, because uhhh not a Christian at all lol, but hey, at least I can say I read them.

Fanwork Friday

Feb. 20th, 2026 11:01 am
evilinsanemonkey: (TOD: Rodney)
[personal profile] evilinsanemonkey
Happy Friday!

What fanworks have you enjoyed this week?

I Really enjoyed Sheepsquatch Stole my Rodney by [personal profile] friendof_dorothy - Eerie, Indiana: the Other Dimension - Mitchell gets out of dodge, and goes looking for Rodney.

May The Fourth 2026 - Dear Yoda

Feb. 19th, 2026 09:35 pm
desertvixen: (Default)
[personal profile] desertvixen

 

My general preferences are here.

DNW: unrequested mundane AU | female characters in fridges | non-con | violent dub-con | graphic violence | gore | graphic sexual violence | cruelty/death to animals | cruelty/death to children | requested character death | unrelieved grimdark | bigotry by the good guys | first or second POV | reader fic | ABO | soulbonds | wildly OOC in a non-cracky way

SMUT DNW: creampies | the word “cunt” | anal | hate each other out of bed | underage | incest

MAYBE: no-harm dubcon (sex pollen or “fertility artifact”) | period typical attitudes | infidelity | power dynamic

Specific DNW: No Yuuzhaan Vong/Force users plague/fridges

I love treats!

I am clearly a Original Trilogy/Legends girlie, so you know what to do!

 

My Star Wars preferences:

Legends | Stackpole | Zahn | Didn’t we just leave this party? | ROTJ | Rogue One | Kenobi | Lego SW | Wedge Antilles | Rogue Squadron | Mara Jade | Witches of Dathomir | Biggs Darklighter

So, I'm a Star Wars fan who's a little sad that the Extended Universe got handwaved away - I really loved Timothy Zahn and Michael Stackpole, and my requests tend to reflect that.  I am a Legends girl at heart, and you can’t go wrong if you write me something that belongs in either a Timothy Zahn book or one of Stackpole’s Rogue Squadron books.  Please don't refer to anything that happened after the godawful Vector Prime and switch to Del Rey.  No Yuuzhan Vong, no Mara Jade gets weird wasting disease, no Teneniel getting put in the freezer.

I'm also not a very active Star Wars fan.  I’m not into the games, am not reading the new EU stuff, so don’t write anything that requires a lot of homework to GET.

However, I'm also a Star Wars fan who thought Rogue One totally and completely rocked it out of the park. Loved it loved it loved it!  Went and saw it in the theaters like 4 times, including giving up a free day to go see it on a BIG screen.  It’s so good.  The novelization was good too.  I’m a fan of Everyone Lives/Krennic dies AUs or Some People Live/Some People Die.

I love the original three (ROTJ is my favorite).

I enjoyed the sequels (although that like is dwindling more every time I see a stupid handwave plot post) but didn’t LOVE them, especially after the ridiculously evident fact that they DIDN’T HAVE A PLAN.

I am NOT a fan of the prequels.  I wanted to like them, but I just couldn’t get past Phantom Menace and the stupidity of traveling around with young Obi-Wan Kenobi and falling for Anakin. 

I’m not familiar with the animated SW shows, and my ignoring the prequels means I also missed all the “Jedi don’t have emotional attachments” which maybe should have gone down as a bad idea.

I’m not familiar with most of the Disney shows BUT I did enjoy Kenobi quite a bit.  I loved Tala and little Leia and Beru.

I did enjoy the zaniness of the Star Wars Lego Holiday special, so feel free to play off that.

My heart is with the original 3 (and Rogue One, now that it exists) and the "waved away" Extended Universe.  The more they make me feel like it requires me to do homework, the less interested I am.

I'm also not really a Luke fan. Give me Han and Wedge any day of the week. And maybe Ben Kenobi.  Or an AU where Biggs Darklighter becomes the most famous pilot from Tatooine.  And maybe find some way to make Rey a Kenobi descendant…?  I really wanted her to be a Kenobi descendant.  I still want her to be a Kenobi somehow.

 

 

Teneniel Djo/Luke Skywalker

Corran Horn/Mirax Terrik

Wedge Antilles/Leia Organa

Nawara Ven/Rhysati Ynr

Tycho Celchu/Winter Celchu

These are the romance requests.

Teneniel/Luke - I just really loved the vibe they have together. So explore that more. I generally am a Mara/Luke shipper as well but something about these two just speaks to me.

Corran/Mirax - The smartass flyboy meets the smart smuggler. What else do we NEED?

Wedge/Leia - So this is my every year request. I just want this. Like a fling, or FWB or more.

Nawara/Rhysati - These two were also interesting (feel free to pair with Corran/Mirax for a spectacular double date).

Tycho/Winter - I would really just love something soft for these two, maybe aftermath of the trial?

Teneniel/Luke – A fling on Dathomir?  I just enjoy them.  Feel free to blend with another request.

Corran/Mirax - I'm always down for Corran/Mirax and their relationship. (Combining them with Han/Leia could be very fun. Maybe some diplomatic event that gets steadily less boring? Corellia related? Mirax and Han swapping stories?). I love Mirax and Corran, especially when she takes him down a few notches, as he so often NEEDS.

Wedge/Leia - I think a fling could have happened, a little stress relief...

Keep them in the X-Wing or original series timeframe.  Leia is gone when Wedge finally makes his appearance in TLJ, but you could do something with that, him remembering her as friends or more.  I'd love to see more of this relationship, especially as it is portrayed in the Legends book. Or if you want to take it to TLJ, that would also be acceptable.

Nawara/Rhysati – Stolen moments in Rogue Squadron?  What happens after?  And when I say “spectacular double date” it probably involves jail or explosions.

Tycho/Winter -  I’d love something soft and fluffy and sweet for them (or maybe a little spicy).  Feel free to combine with Wedge/Leia.  Tycho/Winter deserve a quiet moment (and maybe a little disbelief that it’s over?)

 

 

Wedge Antilles & Leia Organa

Wedge Antilles & Biggs Darklighter

Teneniel Djo & Mara Jade

Corran Horn & Nejaa Halcyon

Tala Durith & Jyn Erso

 

These are the platonic requests.

Wedge & Leia - Business or pleasure?

Wedge & Biggs - I long for an AU where Biggs Darklighter is the best fighter pilot Tatooine ever produced. These two leaders get in trouble and need to be bailed out (bonus points if Leia is the person they call).

Teneniel & Mara - Aside from possibly dishing about Luke, I'd love to see these two kick some ass together.

Corran & Nejaa - Does Corran ever have a Force Ghost visitation?

Tala & Jyn - An AU where these two survive and get to cause trouble together? Feel free to include little Leia.

Wedge & Leia – Are these two on a mission or just trying to avoid death by boredom in a meeting they would have shot their way out of before the New Republic. Leia’s perspective on Rogue Squadron?

Wedge & Biggs - What if Biggs becomes the most famous fighter pilot from Tatooine? Ghostly encounter? There must always be a Darklighter in Rogue Squadron

I love love love Wedge Antilles. I'd love something set during original movies, X-Wing books or maybe a look at what he's doing in Last Jedi (or why he's NOT doing anything). I like Poe, but he's no Wedge Antilles.

I admit to a preference for the Wedge of the Rogue Squadron books, with the sly humor and him as the Commander of the Rogues (and their craziness). Maybe an AU where Biggs is in there with him? You could keep Gavin around as well.

Not really much to add besides WHERE ARE ALL THE PILOTS in the later movies?

I have a great affection for Biggs as well, and would love to see him and Gavin hanging out (maybe include Wedge). Or maybe Biggs lives and becomes the most famous pilot a planet called Tatooine ever produced....

Teneniel & Mara - Just don't put Teneniel in the fridge like they do later in the series. I loved young Teneniel and was super disapointed to see what they did to her.

Corran & Nejaa - I'd love to see Corran getting a force ghost visit from his grandfather.

Tala Durith and Jyn could be interesting (or Lyra … or all 3). Down time or mission time would be good.  Lyra and Jyn escape and join the Rebellion?  I’m here for it. Involving Tala (another candidate for Not Dying) would be awesome as well.

 

Teneniel Djo & Mara Jade & Leia Organa & Mirax Terrik

Corran Horn & Wedge Antilles & Mirax Terrik & Booster Terrik & Han Solo

Wedge Antilles & Tycho Celchu & Wes Janson & Derek "Hobbie" Klivian

Winter Celchu & Wes Janson

Pash Cracken & Wedge Antilles

 

These are (clearly) the shenanigans requests. For all of these, I am okay with a story about the action OR the bar after the action is over!

Teneniel Djo & Mara Jade & Leia Organa & Mirax Terrik - Not sure what they've teamed up for but their opponents are in trouble.

Corran Horn & Wedge Antilles & Mirax Terrik & Booster Terrik & Han Solo - Corellians attack!

Wedge Antilles & Tycho Celchu & Wes Janson & Derek "Hobbie" Klivian - You know the drill, I love Rogue Squadron. Feel free to add on anyone you need!

Winter Celchu & Wes Janson - What requires both their skills? (If the answer is pre-wedding shenanigans, sign me UP)

Pash & Wedge - The line about Pash buying his father a souvenir gets me every time!

Why have these four teamed up?  Not sure, but I feel bad for their opponents.

Wedge & Corran & Mirax & Han: Corellia Forever! The most epic smuggling job ever - or the stories in the bar later. Hijinks ensue. Rogue Squadron timeline or later. Maybe Booster and/or Leia are included?

So this is my Corellia/Corran Horn request.  Yes I know he’s a pain in the ass, but I do love him (especially if people take him down a peg or two).  I love the idea that all the Corellians could be drinking buddies, and I am 100% here for the idea that Corellians may have a higher percentage of people who use the Force on a subconscious level but think they’re just lucky.  Never tell them the odds.

I’m also totally down for you poking some gentle fun at CorSec Corran Horn being a little twitchy at being surrounded by the Corellian Rogues Gallery, even if he is involved with/married to one.

Wedge & Tycho & Wes & Hobbie – If you read Starfighters of Adumar you know the vibe.  Feel free to involve some others as well! (including Iella & Winter)

Winter & Wes - Getting into or out of trouble? Bonus points if you tie this to a Rogue Squadron related bachelor party. Remembering things/giving comfort/planning a surprise?

Pash & Wedge - Invasion of Coruscant hijinks? Ball Hijinks? Why are two fine upstanding pilots in quite so much trouble? Bonus points if Pash is about his father's business.

  For Wedge and Pash, I love their interactions in the X-Wing books.  The whole bit where they’re undercover at the museum and Pask is talking about getting his father a souvenir?  That’s peak of what I would like.

current fandom events

Feb. 19th, 2026 02:52 pm
svgurl: (smallville: clark/suit = otp)
[personal profile] svgurl
[community profile] fanmix_monthly is a fanmix & mixtape community that also has optional monthly prompts

[community profile] comicsfanfiction is a community for posting fanfiction based on comics

[community profile] voiceinmyear is a community to share any kind of audio-based narrative entertainment

[community profile] 10trueloves is a low pressure multi-fandom community dedicated to creating works for your favorite character and 10 different ships

[tumblr.com profile] fandombingo is running a Kisses, Chaos, Catastrophe Bingo. Sign-ups are open until February 21st.

[tumblr.com profile] flufftober is running a Spring Edition from March 9th-22nd.

[personal profile] fiachairecht is running bring her bleeding heart to me, a dark femslash commentfic meme for femslash february.

[community profile] highadrenalineexchange, an exchange where you have two weeks to write 10k (or draw a 25-panel/10-page comic) and one week to edit, is open for nominations until February 20th, 9:59PM EST. They will reopen when sign-ups do.

[community profile] the_mane_event, a multifandom gift exchange for all things hair-related, is accepting nominations until February 22nd, 11:59PM UTC.

[community profile] unsent_letters_exchange, an epistolary fic exchange, is accepting nominations until February 25th, 11:59PM UTC.

[community profile] goreswap, a multifandom exchange dedicated to gore, has opened sign-ups until February 25th, 11:59PM EST.

[community profile] firstandlastalexchange is running a 2026 multifandom omegaverse Kink/Prompt Meme. Prompting will be open until the end of the year and it will be open for fills indefinitely.

fresh femslash salad bar table

Feb. 18th, 2026 10:40 pm
svgurl: (smallville: lois/lana s4)
[personal profile] svgurl
This is my table from [personal profile] elasticella's Fresh Femslash Salad Bar Event.

svgurl's salad bar
salad 1 waking up together & 3500 words
salad 2 snowed in & 2500 words
salad 3 cuddling & 2000 words
salad 4 hair braiding & 4000 words
salad 5 cooking together & 5000 words
salad 6 first kiss & 1000 words
salad 7 stargazing & 1500 words
salad 8 renovations & 5500 words
salad 9 slow dancing & 3000 words
salad 10 second chance & 4500 words
svgurl: (smallville: clark/lois/oliver ot3)
[personal profile] svgurl
[personal profile] candyheartsex revealed their collection a few days ago and this is what I got.

Title: Love me for a reason
Author: [archiveofourown.org profile] the_milky_way
Fandom: 9-1-1 (TV)
Pairing/Characters: Buck/Eddie
Rating: General
Word Count: 2367
Summary: Buck is sad. Buck wants to have a Valentine. Eddie overhears and decides to do something about it. If it leads to feelings realization and a move in the right direction, well, he wouldn't mind.

Aww, I love a soft Eddie wanting to make Buck happy.

Title: Finding You After So Long
Author: [archiveofourown.org profile] ziazippy5379
Fandom: Crossover (DCEU/MCU)
Pairing/Characters: Diana (Wonder Woman)/Natasha Romanov
Rating: General
Word Count: 300
Summary: Natasha falls through a portal and sees someone she had given up hope finding.

Love a reunion, even if the ideal circumstances are the less than ideal :)

Title: Group Movie Night 2: the Return
Author: [archiveofourown.org profile] archea2
Fandom: Smallville
Pairing/Characters: Clark/Lois/Oliver
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 2748
Summary: Lois decides that their group movie night deserves a redo.

Beyond thrilled to get fic for this trio and it was a lot of fun, with some feelings thrown in

Ianto Jones all over again

Feb. 18th, 2026 11:46 pm
mxcatmoon: Rico in glasses sexy (MV: Rico glasses)
[personal profile] mxcatmoon
I have a confession.

I am obsessed with Rico Tubbs. It's like Ianto Jones all over again. I think I need an intervention. πŸ˜πŸ˜‚πŸ€£πŸ˜‰

I'm feeling guilty. Yes, I am watching an episode with tons of Sonny tragedy/angst and thinking, poor Rico! Forgive me, Sonny fans, I can't help myself. It's not that I don't love Sonny -- and I do see them as a matched set! Maybe I'll be better tomorrow. Things are just kinda rough right now.

I know Rico has his Issues, too. I do. He's not perfect either. I just can't help myself. I didn't expect it, it just hit me out of the blue. Like Ianto (at least Rico doesn't die -- thank God!!).

Maybe it'll get better after the shit ton of Rico Angst coming up in the next three episodes. Hopefully there won't be so much horror to go through after that... And then, once I'm done with the Horrible Angst Seasons, I can start over again and enjoy the "fun" stuff again (fun being a relative term, but compared to the fourth and fifth season, the first two are a honeymoon in paradise. I normally don't have a favorite like this, so I'm fighting it. I really think things will get better when I'm finished with the last season.

Look at my happy baby! When Rico's happy, I'm happy.
deliver29.jpeg
I just gave Rico his own tag. The only characters who have their own tags besides him are Ianto and James T. Kirk.

But the finale of Good Omens IS coming up on May 13th, so that might turn out to be a good thing. I might need the distraction.

ride_4ever: (Fannish 50 Challenge)
[personal profile] ride_4ever
Here's what happens when fandom and amigurumi collide: Crochet Your Celebrity Crush by Lee Sartori, ISBN 9780760393659.

(no subject)

Feb. 18th, 2026 08:00 pm
adore: (prayer)
[personal profile] adore
My anger was defined as a monster
The only reason it knew it wasn't human
Was because people told it so

My anger was classified as a monster
It had black eyes that could turn red
And a large mouth that could scream loud
And gobble you up (if that was allowed)

My anger should have worn a cape
It always showed up right when it was needed
But capes were reserved for humans and superhumans

I don't think my anger can be satiated
If it was allowed to gobble you up
It would still sit and scowl at your bones until they disintegrated

Maybe that's why they decided it was a monster
The monsters on TV rampage and devour entire populations
And my anger is capable of eating humanity itself
delphi: An illustrated crow kicks a little ball of snow with a contemplative expression. (Default)
[personal profile] delphi
[personal profile] kingstoken's 2026 Book Bingo: Figures Without Facial Features on the Cover
[personal profile] kingstoken's 2026 Book Bingo: Set at a School/University

The Whole Truth by Kit Pearson and its sequel And Nothing but the Truth are a pair of middle grade historical novels set in British Columbia in the 1930s.

The main character is Polly Brown, who begins the story age ten, relocating from Winnipeg to the Gulf Islands to live with her grandmother following the death of her father—an event that's the subject of secrecy between her and her older sister Maud. Shortly after arriving at their grandmother's, Maud leaves for boarding school, leaving Polly to adjust alone to her new life on a small island and deal with the carrying the secret by herself. The second book picks up a couple of years later, when Polly also needs to leave the island for secondary schooling and struggles to adjust to being away while more big changes come to her family.

I read a few of Kit Pearson's books as a kid, and when she came up in conversation recently with a friend, I decided to check out some of her more recent novels. I don't know how her older books would hold up to a re-read for me, but I ended up having a mixed reaction to these two.

They were largely pleasant reads. They're well-written, and if spending time in upper middle-class circles in 1930s western Canada appeals, there are a lot of detailed descriptions of clothes, food, and rural seaside life to enjoy. As someone with an interest in that part of the world but who doesn't have family history there, I appreciated this look into the period.

These books feel like they're in the tradition of Anne of Green Gables, Pollyanna, A Little Princess, Heidi, etc.—stories I associate with girls changing the world around them, whether through action or because of their positivity. But that's not really the deal with Polly, who's a very passive character and doesn't seem to bring anything unexpected to her new community. It's also not a Secret Garden or Goodnight, Mr. Tom situation where it felt like Polly herself was changed by her new home, aside from benefiting from more money and opportunities. Things just kind of work out for her while the least dramatic version of eventful situations unfold around her.

I think what particularly didn't land for me was this sense of complacency with regard to the arc of the moral universe. Polly is shown recognizing injustice and then just...never does anything about it. Her grandmother racially discriminates against a neighbour, and Polly disagrees but then lets it lie. We don't see her ever interacting with the neighbour, or even with the neighbour's son, who's a schoolmate. She has the instinct to give money to a homeless man, but then stops when her teacher scolds her and doesn't help anyone again. She never takes a stand or makes any sacrifice, aside from the one time when it's strongly self-serving, but other characters praise her for seeing the world clearly with her artist's eye, in a way that implies that just seeing is enough and that things will work themselves out over time (at least for those who happen to be the loved one of someone with money and property).

While I was reading, I often found myself thinking how glad I was that the author was avoiding the most predictable conflicts I kept thinking were coming, but by the end of the second book, I looked back and felt like something critical was missing. I don't need big culminating moments in historical coming-of-age novels—I absolutely love A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and could write a whole essay on how it shares a sliver of the same flaw but how all of its positives outweigh that for me—but I needed just a little something more to care about these characters and their fortunes.

An Excerpt )

ETA: Spoilers in the comments
mxcatmoon: Sonny/Rico hands (MV 08 Hands)
[personal profile] mxcatmoon
Title: When You Say Nothing at All
Fandom: Miami Vice
Author: Cat Moon
Rating: G
Words: 290
Characters/Pairing: Sonny’s heart/Rico’s heart
Summary: No matter how much Sonny and Rico try to pretend they’re just friends, their hearts know different. It was always more.
Notes: Here’s a belated Valentine’s Day ficlet
“When You Say Nothing at All,” by Ronan Keating is ‘their’ song if ever there was one.


When You Say Nothing At All )

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