Showing posts with label lists. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lists. Show all posts

Friday 10 November 2023

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.)



Title: F3. Background: purple kaleidoscope patterns


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.


Friday 20 October 2023

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


Title: F3. Background: purple kaleidoscope pattern


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?

Thursday 31 August 2023

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*




Title: 7 Asian Historical Novels From My TBR





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 16 June 2023

Friday Fics Fix - Magic Moments With Sam and Bucky: A Rec List



When you read as much fanfiction as I do, you start to notice things.

Things like... there are a lot of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (TFATWS) fics which have weird magical aspects.

Or at least... there are a lot of them amongst the ones that I read 😅




Title: Fics Fix! Background: purple with white lightning bolt shape




So I figured I'd spoil you all and give ya a nice little rec-list of TFATWS magic-related fics.

...They're all either SamBucky, or a hair's-width from it, so, y'know. Bigots need not apply - our boys are Bi.

(...It's too hot here, I think my brain may have melted 😅 )



(Fandom notes:

SamBucky aka WinterFalcon etc. is a romantic and/or sexual relationship between Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson.)


As always, please check the original rec'ing post, the fic tags, or both - preferrably both - for Content Warnings.

Friday 13 January 2023

Friday Fics Fix - My Stand-Out Fics Of 2022


Hello 2023 nerdlets! 

For this first Friday Fics Fix of the year, I figured I'd take a little look at some of the fics that stood out for me last year (2022 - in case we've all forgotten already 😅)

These aren't necessarily the 'best' fics - just the ones that stuck out most in my brain, for whatever reason.



Title: Fics Fix! Background: purple with a white lighning bolt shape


I hope you find something you enjoy here! Or that destroys you emotionally (in a good way) - as fanfiction often does. 😅

And remember to check the original rec'ing post for the Content Warnings, and also the fic author's own tags.

dividing line


'“Just give me a—hint, Loki. Jesus,” Tony says, panting when Enchantress’ fire trails a scorching path all around the exterior of the suit. At least that’s solved the weather problem, he thinks, as he unibeams her in the face.'


 


that one last tender place by oopshidaisy


So the whole *waves hands vaguely* deal with this fic is that Tony and Loki (from the MCU, in case you've stumbled onto this post by accident) have been linked mentally and emotionally in a sort-of-soul-bond type-deal-y.

Because magical shenanigans.



This is FrostIron. Because I am trash, and I don't care.

I just love Tony and Loki together *shrugs* - it weirdly works.



Loki (Tom Hiddleston). Caption: I do what I want
Via Giphy


(Fandom notes: 

FrostIron is a romantic and/or sexual relationship between Iron Man, aka Tony Stark, and Loki, from the MCU (Marvel movies.))



Is there angst?

Well, this is me rec'ing it, so yes.

There's a butt-tonne of angst and hurt/comfort, and emotions every-goddamn-where.



What stood out to me about this one is just the whole interweave and dynamic between Tony and Loki, but also the actual plot being pretty damned good!



Original rec'ing post: Friday Fics Fix - Magical Shenanigans With Tony and Loki


dividing line


'But the lies were out there, circulating, and were made into a movie, which is a really mixed blessing. Let’s pretend this narration is over the title crawl, and cut to our heroine...'




Anita's Voice by tangentti



Jennifer's Body is a 2009 cult-classic unapologetically Queer horror film.

This fic imagines an AU where the film Jennifer's Body is actually an adaptation of a true crime story

And Needy Lesnicki - the main character - still in the wind and on the run several years later, has seen the movie. She has some thoughts.

(Oh, and it should be obvious from the premise, but in case it's not: this fic is full of SPOILERS.)


Jennifer Check (Megan Fox) waving
Via Giphy


(Fandom notes:

AU = Alternate Universe)



As a true crime fan that tries to stay on the less-exploitative side of the media I consume, I kinda love the way it's played with in this fic.

It has some stuff to say about the lengths that true crime devotees and culture takes the celebrity and even mysticism bestowed on infamous killers.

...And you know I love me some fanfiction-based social commentary 😅



This one sticks in my head for the ingenuity and creativity involved - as well as a huge understanding of Needy herself.



Original rec'ing post: Friday Fics Fix - Needy Lesnicki: In The Wind and On The Run


dividing line


'“Who is he?” Clint asks.


Sam shrugs his shoulders. “I don't know. He broke in, only thing he's really said is Steve's name.”'



Split Lip by Mjazilem


Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan): Hi!
Via Giphy



AUs can be an incredible way for fic authors to play around with the characters and situations involved in the canon.

...and the best AUs are often the least fantastical.


(Fandom notes:

AUs = Alternate Universes.

Canon = the 'official' stuff in the book/film/whatever) 



Basically, Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers (from the MCU/Marvel  fandom, dearest potentially-lost nerdlets,) used to be foster brothers, until they lost touch and Steve heard that Bucky passed away.

Bucky had not passed away.

And now, at the worst possible time cos Steve's out of town, there's a bleeding teenager with a knife in Sam and Steve's kitchen.



The way the fic author commits to this AU, and manages to integrate the characters into it without it feeling forced, really made it memorable (plus... I couldn't stop reading it, OK? It was very page-turn-y!)



Original rec'ing post: Friday Fics Fix - Dealing With The Stabby Teenager In Your Kitchen

dividing line


'“Alex,” he said quickly, his voice strained. “I need you to overrule security protocol and allow me access to a cell in the basement-level holding facility. Please listen carefully, I require several apparatuses to ensure my escape is at its lowest likelihood-”'

 

Present, Past and Future Hunt Me by Namesake


I had to include this one in the list! 

Just the whole... *waves hands* -ness of it!


Supergirl: I'm excited! This is me excited!
Via Giphy


It's like a whole-a** season arc of Supergirl.

It's incredible, and at just under 500 pages and, according to the author's notes, taking two years to complete - it shows some goddamn dedication!



And it has everything.

Action? Check.

Angst? Check.

Plot twists? Character interactions? The power of freaking love?! Check, check, check!

And not only do we have OTP Brainy and Nia taking front and centre in the fight against one of Brainy's evil ancestors, we also get Kara and J'onn being super superheroes, and Alex and Kelly doing their whole kick-a** Lesbian action hero schtick!

Oh and Lena! Lena's here too.


Honestly, if you're a Supergirl fan, you're gonna love it!



Original rec'ing post: Friday Fics Fix - Like A Whole Season Arc of Supergirl

dividing line
'“Who would be controlling it?” Joaquin asked. “And why our camp?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. Why those six kids in the movie? It’s just entertainment, right? Entertainment doesn’t need a big message with metaphors and motifs.”'


These Things That Would Eat Us by Elisabeth Monroe


SamBucky are (teenage, camp counsellor,) Couple Goals™.

Sometimes you just want fics to be fun - maybe a little silly - and a lot entertaining.

(Fandom notes:

SamBucky, also known as Winter Falcon, is a sexual and/or romantic relationship between Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes)



OK, so, hear me out: horror movie summer camp with teenage MCU characters.


Sam Wilson: Where do we start?
Via Giphy


...Do I have to say more? Oh, I do, OK - how about this: there's Sam, Bucky, and Steve, as well as Joaquin Torres, Kate Bishop, and Yelena Belova AND America Chavez, Peter Parker, and Kamala Khan!



Just, this whole fic really sticks in my brain for it's perfect horror camp schtick, y'know? I love it.



Original rec'ing post: Friday Fics Fix - Horror Movie MCU





What fics stood out to you in 2022?

Have you read any of these?

Talk to me! 😎💬







You can follow me on Twitter @CeeDoraReads, on Pinterest, and on Dora Reads @ BlogLovin. For more ways to support me, check out the Support Me page



Previous Friday Fics Fix posts:




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Wednesday 4 January 2023

The Bookish Diversity Link List 2023

  

Your resource for all things bookish diversity is back! 

Welcome to the 7th(!) Bookish Diversity Link List, 2023.



As I said last year, I still think there's need for a resource which points to cool and good quality diverse bookish things - even if I sometimes struggle to add as much to it as I'd like.

My corner of the bookish interwebs may be flourishing diversely, but the bookish interwebs as a whole has a lot of churn in terms of participants (i.e. people leaving, people coming in,) - and some of the issues around diversity and representation remain as pressing as ever.




So, here I am, once again, doing my small bit to keep things moving forward. I hope you find it useful.





'The Bookish Diversity Link List' with punk-star background



Friday 11 November 2022

Friday Fics Fix - Five of My Fave Novel-Length Superhero Fics


I love novel-length fanfiction!

I know, I know, it's not exactly a secret at this point.


'Fics Fix!' with purple bakground and white lightning bolt shape


...I didn't always; love novel-length fanfiction, that is.

I used to prefer the shorter the better.

But somewhere along the way my reading habits changed, and now I can't get enough of the novel and novella length stuff.

Friday 8 October 2021

Friday Fics Fix - A Queer Horror Fanfic Rec List

 

Since it's October, and therefore a time for all things spooky and gothic (woohoo!) I thought I'd give you all a little taste of some horror fics.

Some of these are horror in that the specific piece of fanfiction is horror-based, and some of them are actually based on horror media/fandoms. OK? OK.

Oh, and they're all Queer af.


'Fics Fix!' with purple background and white lightning bolt shape





As I’ve mentioned before, Queer people love horror.

(Not all of us, obviously, that would be a sweeping generalisation, and everyone’s different, but a lot of Queer people do love horror. And I mean LOVE it.)

So, horror's Queer, fanfiction's Queer, let's pull some monsters outta the closet! 😉😎😅

Friday 2 April 2021

Friday Fics Fix - A Sam and/or Bucky Rec List


There is a permanent corner of my brain devoted to The Falcon and The Winter Soldier right now.

For those who don't know: this is a new Disney+ series set in the MCU (the Marvel superhero movies,) - particularly the Captain America corner where Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes live.

...metaphorically. Although I'm sure they'd think it was mildly hilarious to live on a street named after Cap.



'Fics Fix!' with purple background and white lightning bolt shape




Since I couldn't find any fanfiction based specifically on this series that I wanted to rec., I decided to trawl through my relatively extensive archive of fic recs to pick out a handful of my faves featuring Sam and/or Bucky.

(This is the upside of having a shared cinematic universe - the downside is catching up on content if and when you fall behind so that you know wtf is going on 😅)

If anyone has any recs for fics based on this current series, please send 'em my way!

Also, it struck me that I see far less quality fics about Sam than about Bucky, so if you know of any good Falcon ones, lemme know!


Friday 28 August 2020

From My TBR: 15 Young Adult and Middle Grade Books By Black Authors

 

(Warning: this post references racism and police brutality)


 ***All Amazon.com links in this post are commission links. This means I earn commission from purchases made in the US*** 

Please do not use my links to make UK purchases.



'From My TBR: 15 Young Adult and Middle Grade Books By Black Authors' against a background of the page-side of closed books, lined-up


There are three important reasons for me writing this post:

1. Black Lives still Matter.

2. It's always a good time to highlight diverse books.

and 3. There are so many amazing Black creators out there, who don't always get the recognition they deserve.


So here's a small selection of some of the Young Adult (YA) and Middle Grade (MG) books on my TBR list that were written by Black authors.

For those of you who don't know the book-blog lingo - a TBR is a 'to-be-read' list. Mine is immortal and cannot be stopped. Send help.

For those of you who are British like me, and/or haven't heard the book blogging term, Middle Grade books are those aimed at (roughly) ages 8-12, or 8-14, depending who you ask.

(Quick disclaimer: obviously, I haven't read these books, just their synopses, so I don't know what they're like in terms of content, quality, etc.)


I hope you find something to add to your own TBR, and remember to support Black authors, and other Black creators.

There're so many talented Black authors out there who deserve our attention!


Friday 19 June 2020

Friday Fics Fix - Pride Fics Fest: Fics With Trans+ Characters



It's another Friday in June my dearest nerdlets, which means that it's another instalment in my Pride Fics Fest - and this time we're gonna look at fics with Trans+ main characters.




'Fics Fix!' with purple background and white lightning bolt shape




Fanfiction is here to support our Trans and Non-Binary siblings!

Fanfiction can be a place where Trans+/NB+ people can find the kind of representation that is largely not present in mainstream media.

Friday 20 December 2019

I Watched The Film First! *Gasps* - 5 Books That I Read Because I'd Seen The Adaptations

 ***All Amazon.com links in this post are commission links. This means I earn commission from purchases made in the US*** 

Please do not use my links to make UK purchases.



You know the voice that's just like: 'you've read the book, now see the movie!'


...that voice doesn't know me at all.


'I Watched The Film First!' projected on a screen at the front of a cinema


I read a butt-tonne of books. 

Like, I read at the 200-per-year kind of speed.

But I watch loads of film and TV adaps. before I read the book.


Sunday 16 June 2019

Nerd Church - 5 Super-Dads (And 5 Who Aren't So Super)



(This post may have some mild spoilers for various superhero-y dealies.)


Let's have some fun this Father's Day, shall we?



Title image: 5 Super Dads (And 5 Who Aren't So Super)



Superhero media is a hazardous place to be a father...

...Either you or your kid keeps getting kidnapped and you have to save each other...

...someone changes the timeline and suddenly you've accidentally poofed your child out of existence...

...your kids get ret-conned for film license purposes so that they're no longer your kids...

...they turn out to be super-villains even though you thought they were dead...

It ain't easy!


Sunday 9 June 2019

Nerd Church - 9 Things I Learnt From the Chernobyl TV Series



The last episode of the Sky/HBO dramatisation of the Chernobyl disaster aired last Tuesday.

When I was a kid, Chernobyl was the reason people couldn't sell their livestock.

I live over 1000 miles away from the site of the Chernobyl disaster. I was born years after the explosion.

But when I was a kid, Chernobyl was the reason people couldn't sell their livestock.

The restrictions on sheep farmers were only lifted in 2012.



'9 Things I Learnt From the Chernobyl TV Series' graphic with radiation warning sign in front of trees


Sunday 5 May 2019

Nerd Church - The 9 Most Annoying Things That Have Been Said To Me About Being A Second-Generation Vegetarian




I was raised Vegetarian.

So even as Vegetarianism and Veganism has become more main-stream, I've been sat here in a unique kind of space, that not many people get to see.



happy cartoon woman with cooking utensils and vegetables
Image by nugroho dwi hartawan from Pixabay


I've spent my entire life as a Vegetarian.

Which, especially when I was younger, before it became popular, did create some tensions... not least because nothing used to be labelled with a 'V' or whatever.

Wednesday 20 June 2018

4 Fangirling-Worthy Webcomics With Central F/F Romance (That Are Also Available In Print!)







Ladies who love ladies are amazing.

So, as it's Pride Month, and I'm a Queer lady who loves the nerdy things in life, I think it's time we celebrate some central F/F relationships, don't you?






F/F Webcomics title image with lipstick/lips background, and two interlocked venus/feminine symbols in the corner







This short list of comics features romantic relationships ranging from the sexy to the innocent, and ladies who have their own unique personalities and situations.

Available to read online (for free!) or in printed form, let these ladies bring a little love to your lives!





Wednesday 17 January 2018

2017's Top 4 Books (...In The Opinion of Yours Truly)

2017 can't be well and truly dusted off and put back on the shelf* without some input from your favourite Bookish Rebel (moi, ofc,) on the bestest books of the year.




two people with capes and flags acting very victory-ish




This is TOTALLY MY OPINION ONLY.

Obviously, I can only pick from books I've read. And within that only books published in 2017.

Even given those rules, there's a bunch of books that I've read that I didn't include - THAT DOESN'T MEAN I DON'T LIKE THEM!!!!

This is basically a snapshot of the stand-outs. There were loooooads of other books I could've included - promise!

(My Anxiety kicks in when I think I might be leaving someone/something out that deserves recognition - does it show?!)



*Ha, shelf? Books? Hehe! XD




Sunday 6 August 2017

Nerd Church - 6 Tips For Staying Productive While Feeling Cruddy

It's always the same.

You've got a deadline; work to do; bills to pay. And you've managed to catch a cold or some other annoying buggle* at the exact wrong moment.

This week I have a pretty awful virus of some type. And I feel like crud. But I work for myself and money doesn't grow on trees (...or so they tell me; I'm gonna find that money tree one day dammit!)



*yes, I refer to viruses as 'buggles.' Blame my mother. Honestly.





Wednesday 2 August 2017

Monday 19 June 2017

12 Things They Don't Tell You When You Become a Book Blogger

There's stuff no-one warns you about when you become a book blogger.

So I thought I'd do you all a favour and write a 100%* accurate post on the struggles of book-blogging!

*Well - somewhere between 70% & 95% anyway!