Friday Fics Fix - My Stand-Out Fics of 2023

 

Since F3 is going on its regular break in December, I thought that now was a great time to give you my stand-out fics of the year!

- That's not the same as the best fics of the year. 

It's more... the ones I can still remember when stressed and tired at the end of November 😅 (Expect a lot from the last few months, ngl.)

Remember to please check out the orginal rec'ing posts for Content Warnings and SPOILER status.

I'll leave the link to those original rec. posts when I finish up talking about each fic.

Friday Fics Fix - Living Art, Right There

 

'O.B’s fingers freeze. He’s quiet for a moment, before moving to turn off his device. He turns to face Mobius.'

The end of series 2 of Loki was stunningly beautiful - and so is some of the fanfiction that's been inspired by it.

Yes, no sooner was the streaming streamed than the fandom picked up pen and pixel and set out to process, explore, enjoy, revel in, congratulate, commiserate, and everything in between.

Living art, right there.

Friday Fics Fix - 5 More Of My Fave Novel-Length Fics

 

I love novel-length fanfiction.

I am forever in awe of the dedication you have to show to something to write a full novel-length fanfic (especially if you're not planning on changing the names and selling it as an original novel like E. L. James 😅)

I gave a list (which you can see here,) about a year ago, of 5 of my favourite novel-length fanfics - and I figured it's time for another one! (Because I read a truly horrifying amount of fanfiction, lol.)

Remember to please check out the orginal rec'ing posts for Content Warnings and SPOILER status.

Some of these fics deal with difficult topics, so def. check the CWs!

I'll leave the link to those original rec. posts when I finish up talking about each fic.

Comics Wrap-Up - Where The Hell Are We?

 

It's Thursday, I'm tired, let's get some superhero-y comics-y goodness!

Friday Fics Fix - Angels, Demons, Cinnamon-Rolls

 

'Crowley was out doing... something -- Muriel did not know whether he was actually gluing coins to the ground or whether that was an obscure joke.'

 

I love Good Omens - which, in a nutshell, is a TV series on Amazon Prime where an Angel and a Demon get up to shenanigans to a soundtrack of Queen music.

...They're also possibly in full M/M love with each other. They have this whole will-they/won't-they/are-they-already-and-just-don't-know-it, thing going on. Canonically.

(Fandom notes:

Canon is the 'official' stuff that happens in the book/film/whatever)

Friday Fics Fix - Because Incubus

'Tony froze and leaned back to study Bucky's face. He didn't seem to be exaggerating. Tony felt something dark and cold settle in his chest. He cradled Bucky's face with gentle hands, but his voice was hard as iron when he asked, "Honey, is there someone I need to take care of?"'

 

This week's fic is random af.

...I'd go as far as to say it's bordering on crack - don't get me wrong, it's not crack. But if you stand on your tippy-toes and look over the fence, you can probably see crack from here.

(Fandom notes:

Crack fics are the most random, surreal, and bizarre of fics. They are cracked (to give it the non-drug-related definition.) 

Think terminally online meets Alice in Wonderland, or else the Sasquatch sequence in Tenacious D's The Pick of Destiny, and you're more-or-less there.)

Friday Fics Fix - A Spooky-Season LGBTQ+ Ghost Story Rec List

 

Who doesn't love a ghost story?

...Don't answer that! 😅 I know they're not to everyone's taste. 

But I love 'em - and there are some pretty awesome fanfic ghost stories out there (both spooky and not-so-spooky,) so I figured I'd remind you of a few of my faves

I was originally not planning on making this a specifically LGBTQ+ list, but this is fanfiction...

...so it turned out literally 100% of the fics I picked were LGBTQ+ in some capacity! Woo! Lol. 😅

As always with these rec-lists, check out the original rec'ing post for my full list of Content Warnings.

...Also check the rec posts for SPOILER status for the fics, m'k?

Friday Fics Fix - Sam and Bucky Undercover(s)

'They were supposed to be roommates.'

So much the SamBucky! Lol.

OK, so as you can probably tell from that, this is a The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (TFATWS) SamBucky fic. 

Because I remain TFATWS trash.

Friday Fics Fix - Izzy Hands Is Being Haunted

 

'His captain just looked sad, like he'd failed Izzy in some way.'

 

OH MY GOD THIS FIC!!!!

krhguergjopwrgm';¬!

...sorry, had to fangirl over the page a bit there. This fic is so good. 

Like - page-turning, stayed up an extra hour to read some more, good.

Friday Fics Fix - Blackbeard's Bedraggled Attack Dog

 

'Izzy stared at the doily, trying to imagine where on the high seas they might have stolen that from. Izzy looked up to find Bonnet looking at him meaningfully, then down at the sandwiches. And back.'

  

First thing's first: it's my birthday today! (15th Sep)

Woo!

If you feel like doing so, you can buy me a birthday coffee here. But don't worry, I'll still love ya if you don't 😘

OK, back to our regularly scheduled fandom-ing:

Yes it's some Our Flag Means Death (OFMD) this week!

It's a well-written fic, and you know I have no choice: I must rec. These are the rules. *nods sagely*

Nerd Church - To Love A Loki

 

(Warning: this post discusses low self-esteem and self-hatred. It also briefly mentions self-harm.)

With series 2 of Loki creeping ever-closer (eep!), I thought I'd discuss something about series 1 that tends to get missed in the online talky-talks (aka 'The Discourse™.')

Before we go any further though - this post is gonna have SPOILERS for series 1 of Loki.

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERRRRSSS!!!!!

Friday Fics Fix - The Moon Is Real Frickin' Mysterious

 

"He says hi," says Marc. "And he really likes how this alliance is working so far -- new age of the world and all that, very exciting -- but, if you could just...respect the right of the moon to be real frickin' mysterious? Please?"

Before we get into this week's F3 - what do you all think of the new graphic?!

I've been meaning to update the graphic for Friday Fics Fix for a long time - I was still using the one I threw together on a whim around 2015/2016-ish.

I hope you like it!

OK, back to our regularly scheduled fandoming:

This is a Marvel's Moon Knight fic!

I love Moon Knight, and sadly there aren't that many good Moon Knight fics out there (disagree? Please rec!) - but this week's fic is awesome!

Comics Wrap-Up - Yep, They're Dead To Begin With

 

It's Thursday, it's September, this is Dora Reads, and CWU is back back back! So let's get some comics-y superhero-y goodness!

7 Asian Historical Novels From My TBR

*This post contains affiliate links for Amazon.com (US) - I receive a small commission from qualifying purchases made using these links*

Since my To-Be-Read (TBR) list is always growing exponentially -

and I may never get the time to read every book that's on it (or even a fraction of all the books that's on there - there's like 1000 books, Send. Help.)

- from time to time I like to throw together a list focussing on some of the diverse titles on there.

Partly to spotlight these books, and partly to remind me what I want to read and why I wanted to read it! 😅

This time around, it's time for a TBR post for some of the Asian historical novels on my list.

These are all (to the best of my knowledge) both set in Asia, and written by Asian authors.

(Obviously, since this is a TBR, I haven't read any of these - they might be amazing, they might be awful, they might be anywhere in between!)

Friday Fics Fix - Nah, They Gay

 

'The crew stared at him, and at Lucius behind him who was gesturing emphatically at the leather pants.'

This fic made me laugh - and I think we could all do with that, yeah?

(Well, it's what we're getting!)

Comics Wrap-Up - Chaos In The Best Possible Way

It's Thursday, July is swiftly fading, let's get some comics-y superhero-y goodness!

Friday Fics Fix - Solid SamBucky

 

Warning: this post briefly discusses PTSD/mental health problems

'The storm begins while Sam is away. Which means that Bucky is left to fend for himself in their empty apartment...'

 

We all need some solid SamBucky emotional/mental-health-based Hurt/Comfort every now and then, right?

...I mean.

We all know it's true.

Comics Wrap-Up - Those Pesky Mortals

**This post contains Amazon affiliate links for Amazon.com. 

I receive a small commission for qualifying purchases made with these links.

Polite notice: Please only use these links to make .com (USA) Amazon purchases as I will not receive commission for other domains**

It's Thursday, life is hard sometimes, this is Dora Reads, so let's get some comics-y superhero-y goodness!

Friday Fics Fix - Quite Frankly Batpoop OFMD Vibes

 

'“I think I’m gonna faint now,” Stede says. He nods to himself. “Yes, I think that’s it for me for a while.”'

 

Are we all recovered from the shock of AO3 going down earlier in the week? Yes? Good.

I really wish there was more than one fanfiction site with AO3's usability, range, and download feature. But I suppose that would be greedy. 😘😅

(Fandom notes:

AO3 = Archive Of Our Own - the biggest and probably most widely used fanfiction site.)

So, with AO3 safely returned to its rightful place on the interwebs, I have some Our Flag Means Death (OFMD) fanfiction for ya!

(It's been like... 3 weeks since I last rec'd OFMD. #Restraint.)

Friday Fics Fix - Clint Barton Has No Coffee

 

'The coffee is gone.

"No," Clint whispers, staring at the counter where he left it. "What the... is it... coffee burglar?"'

I would like the record (there's a record, right? Sure, let's say there's a record,) to show that I'm not actually a big fan of time-loop tropes.

...Which you wouldn't think, given how often I rec. them, but there we are!

(All of which is to say that this week's fic is a time-loop fic.)