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4 fandoms, 12 fics, and a bunch of different pairings. Whoo! I totally forgot that some of these were from 2022.
( Cut for length! )

The kinkluckydip exchange was a good one for me. Loved the parameters/concept; the bite-sized minimum wordcount and the freedom to write whatever I want as long as it was kinky in some way really worked for me. The only issue that I ran into is that it takes place at the start of the busiest part of the year at my work, but I managed to get everything in on time, so that turned out fine in the end.

Works were revealed over the weekend. 87 fandoms and over 150 works at this time. Yay!

Author reveals aren't for a while, so I can't link to what I wrote. But as for what I received - I made out like a bandit when it came to gifts, holy shit.

+ Art: Frosty Treat. Frozen, Elsa/Honeymaren, oral + clothes on, plus a cute little extra at the end that made me crack up. ;D

+ Art: Impromptu Hairplay. Hetalia, Romania/Norway, bondage and blindfolds and erogenous haircurl teasing... Somebody ("somebody") knows me very, very well. ;)

+ Fic: The Devil You Know (archive-locked). The Magnus Archives, Michael Distortion/Jon Sims, 2.3k, canon divergence from MAG 101 in which the door isn't locked, and Michael decides to... keep Jon around. ;) The author tagged for Spiral-typical mindfuckery and boy is it ever.

10/10, would participate again! If this one runs next year, I'll likely sign up, why the hell not.

I received a lovely Ex Machina fic for Chocolate Box exchange.

Sunlight. Ava/Kyoko, 13+, ~700 words, postcanon fix-it.

<3 Do recommend taking a look if you've seen the film and like this pair. (And if you haven't seen it... well, watch that first; it's a good movie. Then read this. ;p )

There were almost 500 fandoms and over 1000 fics written for this exchange. Wow! I'm looking forward to going through the rest of the collection after I complete all of my Boring Weekend Chores.

I made it through November more-or-less in one piece! However, since I still have auction fics outstanding, the semi-hiatus will continue until those are complete. In the meantime:

☆ Received the furniture I ordered months ago. Also put up various framed artwork. This apartment finally looks like a real actual person lives here. ;V Amazing.

☆ I have made an ass of myself more times this month than I would like. Not going to go into details, but I figure I should get down the fact of my asshatery for the sake of record keeping. Good gods, am I ever an ass.

☆ Have been enjoying cooking experiments, reading, and having peace and quiet. Though I will admit the dark is getting to me (I miss jogging outside, gdi. The visibility is too crap to do it outside now.)

☆ Observing Supernatural fandom over the past month has been a trip. I was never deep into the canon - when I gave a try at watching it, there were only a few seasons, and I made it through maybe one and a half of them before losing interest. But not going to lie, it does have a weird and very specific nostalgic place in my heart. So seeing reactions to the final episodes has been... interesting?

☆ Still listening to The Magnus Archives. Still enjoying it. Finished Season 01 recently; partway into Season 02 now. I've been trying to take in only one episode or so per day - I hate waiting for eps to drop, and this series does have a fixed endpoint apparently, so eventually there won't be any more. I liked Season 01 a lot, which makes me slightly wary of what's to come later - the impression I get is that later parts get a bit different. Or rather, that people who love the later parts didn't like season 01 much. Something like that.

☆ Finished a fic - Contour Lines, Hetalia NL/RO, 18+

☆ Auction wip status: 1 drafted and pending edits, 1 in progress (but not as far in progress as it needs to be, YIKES)

☆ A singer I like released a new track recently. Mariel Buckley - No Surprise. Check it out if you like old-fashioned country 'n western. Come on, Mariel, when's the next album coming out?

☆ I swear I had more things that I wanted to say, but they all slipped my mind. Ahh, well. I hope you all will have a lovely December.

Haven't managed to read everything I wanted to read from this year's raremaleslashex collection, but in the meantime, here are some fics that I liked a lot! All of them are for fandoms that I usually don't read in.

☆ With Honey by Plastics. Psycho (1960) x IT Film crossover. Norman Bates/Eddie Kaspbrak. Rated E, 2.7k.

Author's summary: Over 3,000 miles and a new car later, Eddie needs a fucking break.

My thoughts: When I first saw this pairing + crossover, my brain went "What?!", but the author really makes this work. I will note, there is a bit of canon divergence from the IT film in order to make everything line up, but it's unobtrusive and the author pulls it off.

☆ A Foothold in the Flood by Verecunda. Arthurian Mythology with TH White influences. Kay/Arthur. 3.3k, rated M.

Author's summary: "They may call you whatever they like — High King, Penn Teyrned, Dux Bellorum, and all the rest — but you’ll always be the little Wart underneath it all.”

My thoughts: I love this pairing in general, so I was already primed to enjoy this. The dynamic between Kay and Arthur is lovely; the author really sold me on the loyalty and warmth of their relationship. Personally, I could have done without the TH White touches, but they're just a small part of it, and relatively unobtrusive.

☆ That's How the Light Gets In by colonel_bastard. The Exorcist (TV). Marcus Keane/Tomas Ortega. 10.1k, rated T.

Author's summary: They’re deep in the throes of their latest exorcism when he hears that same voice again, a man’s voice, rough and cruel— “Whatcha gonna do, Marky boy? Shoot me? Shoot me?”
Tomas closes his eyes and exhales. It’s not going to be easy, but it’s time for him to know.
“Marcus,” he says. “I want to ask you about something.”

My thoughts: The kind of fic to sink one's teeth into. Intimate and tense. This one is set between season 1 and 2, when they're travelling around together. The author has a good sense of the characterization for these two, I think. The shipping is relatively light - it's in the form of UST and intense feelings rather than anything more obvious - but I liked that because it was in keeping with their canon dynamic.

☆ Request Pending by Kryptontease. The Martian (2015). Vincent Kapoor/Mark Watney. 10.1k, Not Rated.

Author's summary: Mark Watney broke two ribs during the rescue. Not ideal, but not the worst possible outcome. It will take 211 days for the Hermes to reach Earth. What does a man do when all he has is free time?

My thoughts: If you like atypical fic formats like mission logs, emails, and chat logs, read this fic, because the author employs that really well. I read the novel quite a while ago, so my memory of it isn't fresh, but I have the sense that this fic is a good match for the general feeling of the book, which is really nice even if it isn't actually book fic. (From what I remember, the differences between film and novel are minimal, but anyway). They do a really good job of building up the relationship and chemistry between the characters; it's really nice. It's also a really light and fun fic, and sexy but not graphic (hence the NR rating). Definitely an enjoyable read, with a cozy, sweet, feel-good happy ending.

This morning, I woke up to discover that someone had uploaded a Russian translation of "Let me see through your eyes"*, a short Emil & Lalli genfic that I wrote a few years ago for Trick or Treat exchange. Here: Позволь мне увидеть твоими глазами

Man, I love Ao3's "Related Work" feature. I don't require people to ask before translating; I only ask that translators link to the original when they post their version, and inform me that a translation has been posted, and Ao3 does both of those things at the same time. Efficient!

It looks like the translation was written for Fandom Battle, which is a big Russian multifandom fest-type event where people divide into teams by fandom, and then produce a whole bunch of fanworks for that fandom, posting them anonymously. I'm not entirely sure of the finer details of how it works, but it always seemed like a neat event to me.

Times like this, I wish I could understand Russian...! Not about to put in the effort to learn it, though. Anyway, much love to our friends in RU SSSS fandom. I hope your team wins (?) (not sure how this works). xD <3

Aha, the Promare wip I was following is finished! Now, time to rec it. :D

Light Up The Sky by Oripoke. 81k, M, Lio/Galo + ensemble, postcanon.

Summary: A year after the second Great World Blaze, Galo is bored and Lio is nowhere to be found. When Lucia unveils her latest invention, it sends Galo far beyond Promepolis on a search for his wayward copilot. Meanwhile, Lio has bigger things to worry about, out on the fringes of society with all that remains of Mad Burnish. While the two track down missing Burnish and grapple with their feelings for each other, a ghost from Lio's past threatens to disturb the fragile peace they fought so hard to create...

Thoughts: This fic does a great job of keeping up the general feel of canon; by that I mean mechs and fire and stuff blowing up. Like, if there were a second film, a lot of the plot-related stuff in here would be things that I can see happening. Ori takes what we get with the worldbuilding and explores it a bit; there's a lot that the film doesn't show us, so it was cool to see someone play with that.

Also, Ori has a great voice for Galo. Some people dial him down too much, but in this fic, he's just right. And the friends-to-lovers relationship between Lio and Galo that plays out here is really nice.

Sooo, yes. Take a look at this one if you're familiar with the canon and are in the mood to sink your teeth into something nice and long! :D

Without you is how I disappear by henriqua. Lio/Gueira/Meis, rated T, 6.2k. Post-canon, with some hurt/comfort, and understated pining that ends with the beginning of a relationship.

This was sweet. The way the author wrote the dynamic between the Mad Burnish trio was very comfortable and cozy. It's exactly the kind of thing I was hoping to find for them.

There's a little bit with Lio trying (and somewhat failing) to deal with the mundane details of everyday life, and I really like it when people address that. He might have been the boss, but postcanon circumstances introduced a whole lot of changes into his life, and I can't imagine that he'd be able to deal with all of them without some difficulty.

It looks like this fic is the beginning of a series, so hopefully the author plans to explore this ot3 further. I'm really looking forward to that, if so.

I'm slowly going through the Promare fics for various recent exchanges. The fandom is so large that just opening the main section for it on Ao3 and trying to decide to read seems kind of intimidating. It's easier this way.

I really enjoyed this one, which was posted for Yuletide:

Wear Sunscreen by Winterhill. 6.1k, Lio/Galo, rated M.

Cute friends-to-lovers postcanon fic with Galo teaching Lio to swim, and the two of them figuring out what they are to each other, with rebuilding going on in the background. I thought it was really sweet.

2 x SSSS from this year's Chocolate Box. Still going through everything, but for now - Stand Still Stay Silent had only a few things in the collection this year, but they were really good. :D

[Fic] Stand Still and Sing to the Balconies. G, main cast, hints at various pairs, 4.1k.
40-some years down the track, somebody thought it would be a good idea to stage an opera based on the Y90 expedition to Denmark. A preview is staged for a prospective investor.

[Art] Eyes of Vipers.
Sointu Takasuo, one of the Sentinel Mages posted to guard Saimaa's borders after the calamity of Y79.