The Turtle Jourtle

I've finally finished A Birdwatcher's Guide to Cornish Ghosts * by Lizzie. It took a long time.

This story has good writing, and a lot of people like it, but it was just not my thing. That might have been predictable. While I have enjoyed a few, full-conversion AUs like this one—in which Bodie and Doyle have totally different lives, outside any version of CI5—tend to interest me less than other kinds of fics. I also find most sex scenes tedious, and this fic has a truly laughable number of sex scenes. It was easy enough to skim or skip them, but as many as there were, they did seem to me to break up the flow of the plot. At any rate, whether for those reasons or others, I simply never connected with this story. I finished it mostly because, by the time I stopped hoping it would grow on me, I had invested so much time that it seemed a shame to give up. 103,215 words. B/D slash.

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* Parts 1 to 5 are at the Circuit Archive, part 6, and the lovely art may be found at the Internet Archive.

K is for the kids who chose themselves, N is for no place like home, F is for the family evans, H is for The Healing Properties of Felt-Tip Pens

Here's another batch of fics for my multifandom bingo card. Three of the five are Harry Potter fics. The wonderful alt.wiz, which I posted about last time, rekindled my interest in Harry Potter fic. I've never been a regular reader, but have had seasons of dabbling, and I seem to be in another one now.

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Tonight I read To earn your wings by rallamajoop, which timemidae recommended over on the section7mfu comm. It's a satisfying fic providing some background for Heather McNabb, as well as a glimpse into the lives of 1960s airline stewardesses. The author's post about her research for the fic (which is linked in the end notes) is also interesting. 7,041 words. Gen.

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Last night I read The Palest Ink by JGL. It's a suspenseful and intriguing story, and I stayed up much too late to finish it. It's told entirely from Bodie's point of view. I think a retelling from the point of view of the other principle character would make a fascinating sequel. 29,531 words. B/D slash.

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I'm still trying to make it through A Birdwatcher's Guide to Cornish Ghosts. I've been hoping it will grow on me, but 60,000 words in, I think I can say that it is just not my thing. On the other hand, having read this far, it would be a shame not to finish. Besides, I've already picked out a pretty bird photo for my bingo card. Sigh.

Happy International Fanworks Day!

As I did last year, I'm celebrating by sharing some recs coveraing several types of fanwork from a variety of fandoms.

Fan Fiction

alt.wiz: Charlie Furth, Usenet, and the Magical Internet Revolution by flibbertygigget
Harry Potter, gen, 8932 words
I first read this fic last week and have been looking for opportunities to recommend it since then. It's a piece of fictional nonfiction detailing events that might have taken place in the wizarding world of the 1990s. I think it's wonderful.
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I confess that I've been reading an old favorite again instead of exploring new stories. While asking for some recs of long fics, I remembered how much I like Safe Harbor by Kellie Matthews, and I couldn't resist revisiting it.

This fic has a lot going for it: serious moments, funny moments, plot, romance, good dialog, and solid characterization. I find it very satisfying. It does have more sex than seems necessary to the narrative, which is not my preference, but the rest of the story is worth waiting out some boring bits. 48,030 words. NS/IK slash.

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Well, I've been devoting most of my reading energy over the past few days to a long Professionals fic, but I took time out to read a very short MFU story: Just a Number by jantojones. This fic has Napoleon, at 35, comparing himself to a crop of younger agents. I enjoyed it. I am also 35, and I've been struck more and more recently by the fact that there are fully adult people significantly younger than I am. 404 words. Gen.

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I am really enjoying the fic bingo games that I am playing in both of my main fandoms. But why play only two kinds of bingo when you can play three? I've decided to start a multifandom bingo card for the miscellaneous fics that I read outside my primary fandoms. Don't worry, though. To minimize spam in my friends' feeds, I will only be posting the multifandom card whenever I have five new fics to add.


Anyone else who wants to play multifandom bingo is welcome to use this board. It is based on the Prosfic bingo board created by keli.

This evening I finished Lost & Found by Kellie Matthews. It's a meandering fic recounting Illya and Napoleon's first meetings and the early days of their collaboration, including events surrounding some of the missions from the show's first season. The fic is a bit slow in places and perhaps a little short on conflict, but the characterizations and dialog are good, and I enjoyed it enough to keep reading till the end. 44,544 words. NS/IK slash.

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