That time again, folks—chime in here or at your own journal. I have no fun pictures or links—but there is TV for once.

What I’m Reading

The Far Side of the World, Patrick O’Brian (Aubrey #10) (audiobook). Almost finished with it, too. Some truly crazy shit happens in this one, almost none of which made it into the movie (for obvious reasons, mostly). There are a surprising number of comic episodes (surprising--see what I did there, in a Jack-like way ;)), which appear to be just POB flexing his writing chops, which are considerable. I’m not complaining; the whole thing is a delight. This is the one where, like Keats, they all declaim upon the delights of first reading Chapman's Homer. There is also a sailor named Macbeth.

When I started listening to these things, I couldn’t believe there were 21. Now, I can’t believe there are only 21. They seem to be dominating my year.

I haven’t cracked the spine of a print book since I finished the Kate Atkinson below. Busy and unpleasant week so far, sadly.

What I Just Finished

Treason’s Harbour, Patrick O’Brian (Aubreyad #9) (audiobook). Nothing to say about that I didn’t say last week. I liked this one, and was sorry to see Jack and Stephen leave the Mediterranean, even if they weren’t.

Life After Life, by Kate Atkinson. I liked this (witness the fact that I made it through all 500+ pages, unlike 80% of the books I start)—and I absolutely recommend it, especially as a beach or plane novel, or for a book club.

( cut for length, not spoilers )

What I’m Reading Next

Dunno. Life After Life made me want to read more about the Blitz, so I have Sarah Waters’s Night Watch on hold at the library—but I’ve tried to read it before and found it hard going. I’ve read good reviews of The Woman Upstairs, so want to give that a try, too.

TV!

Now that you can stream Top of the Lake on Netflix, I feel I should make a proper rec for it. Watch it, if you can face the sexual violence—it’s very, very good. In the end, it’s harsh, but not dark, if that makes sense, with much more faith in human resilience and agency than lots of things I’ve watched lately. The acting is superb, and it’s an interesting meditation on the problem of justice outside the law. And, like I said a few weeks ago, for a show that is so centrally about rape, it’s very sex positive, with a broader representation of the shapes and practices of desire than, again, you’re likely to see elsewhere.

I also saw all of Broadchurch, which I also recommend, if you have a chance. The plot was so similar to Top of the Lake it was almost confusing. Of the two, however, Broadchurch was by far the more conservative and the more depressing. I’ve already ranted to thirdbird about the finale, so I’ll spare you, but up until the penultimate episode, it was damn fine TV.

I’m not sure I’m even going to say anything about the season/series finale of Southland (tragic? Inevitable?), but I’d love to hear what you thought of it, if you watched it.

What should I watch now? I seem to be out of miniseries.

I watched too much TV yesterday, when I should have been doing more remunerative things. But, since I did, I thought I’d seize this rare moment of being caught up with four (4!) shows.

Okay, I am caught up with Southland, and...I kind of wish I wasn’t. Or, maybe I wish I’d been spoiled for the latest episode (5.9) before I watched it. ( spoilers )

I am also caught up with two mystery miniseries—just because I totally can’t wait to find out what happens next/who did it. Top of the Lake and Broadchurch are both variations on the old Twin Peaks formula of “dead child in a tiny community that is not as bucolic as it seems; outside detective (with demons of their own) arrives to solve the case." You've seen the formula many times—but these shows do it well.

Top of the Lake. There’s this moment in Patrick O’Brian’s Post Captain when, Jack Aubrey asks a young girl who's in a ship that has been taken by the French, "I hope I see you well. Quite well?" and the narrator points out that what he really means is "no too much raped?"

So, okay, that’s not a question you’d want to ask any of the female characters in Top of the Lake. ‘Cause you’d get some pretty explicit answers. The show has maybe the harshest worldview I’ve seen on TV—no one is trustworthy, violence is around every bend.

There are a bunch of reasons to watch it, though. 1) Elizabeth Moss is astonishingly good—strong, smart, vulnerable, violent, complicated, sexy. The other acting—particularly by Peter Mullan—is excellent as well. 2) The New Zealand scenery is as spectacular as you’d expect. The human scenery is also amazing: the show is probably worth watching for the tattoos alone. 3) Aside from the preoccupation with rape (or along with it?), the show’s take on sexuality is really interesting. You see a lot of middle-aged people, with realistically middle-aged bodies, having sex. This never happens on TV.

Another thing about Top of the Lake is that it makes the ongoing family angst of Broadchurch seem fluffy by comparison. This is the ITV series with the Dr. Who actors—David Tennant and Arthur Darvill—and a whole bunch of actors you’ve seen before somewhere. It’s total crack: everyone is alternately suspicious and sympathetic, and the seaside landscape shimmers endlessly. The last two episodes have been a little draggy (montages, slow motion walks, etc.)—but who am I kidding? I’d watch these guys stare moodily into the sea forever.

I am also caught up on Grimm, and I don’t have much to say about it, except that much as I like Juliette and want her and Nick to get together again, the Nick-Monroe domesticity is endlessly pleasing (plaid flannel bathrobe!) and I can’t believe there aren’t a million fics about it.

The purimgifts fics have been revealed, and here are links to the three I wrote (all under 1,000 words, as per the rules of the exchange).

Counting these, I've now written six Homeland fics, which is a lot for me in any fandom. Apparently Saul is my fic alter ego of the moment, which stands to reason, I suppose.

These are all gen.

Five Times Mira Saw Saul for the First Time (what it says on the tin)

Like Fantasy Football for Spies (Saul and Dar Adal divvy up the spies of the Bible)

Morning in Beirut (Saul and Carrie get stuck in a tight place)

I also received three wonderful H50 ficlets by misslucy21:

Catherine's Unexpected Leave (fabulous sick!fic)

Five Times Danny Thought about Religion (half!Jewish!Danny)

Friday Night Smash (drinking in the spirit of Purim)

I shouldn't be writing fic. And even if I were writing fic, I shouldn't be writing this.

A late entry for the porn battle. And, since it's het knifeplay in a tiny fandom,and not even the main pairing at that, probably of interest only to me.

Title: My tongue upon your scars
Fandom: Homeland
Pairing: Carrie/Quinn
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: bloodplay, knifeplay, painplay, people not being nice to each other.
Word count: 1,253
Disclaimer: not mine, no profif

a/n: for the prompts "knife" and "rough."
a/n: title from the Springsteen song, "Worlds Apart."

My tongue upon your scars (link goes to AO3)

Dear Purimgifts Author:

First of all, thank you so much for writing a story for me! Any fic in these fandoms would make me happy, so please just write what seems fun and interesting to you!

If it’s helpful, here are some things I like:

( optional prompts for Homeland, Lewis, Sherlock, Grimm, H50 and the Aubreyad )

Most importantly, though, have fun, and know that I really appreciate the time and energy you’re taking to do this!

The lewis_challenge Secret Santa Exchange fics have been revealed! The masterlist is over here and includes many wonderful fics, including my lovely present, A Christmas Story. (Lewis fandom is an astonishing thing: the whole challenge went through without a single pinch hitter).

Here's my contribution:

Recipient: pushkin666
Title: What Flowers are at my Feet
Characters/Pairing: Lewis, Hathaway (pre-slash if you’re so inclined, otherwise gen)
Rating: PG
Genre: h/c
Wordcount: 3,651
Warnings/Spoilers: n/a
Disclaimer: not mine, no profit.

Summary: “Pneumonia,” Lewis said. “Why on earth did you come to work with pneumonia?”

a/n: thanks to garry_owen for the beta!
a/n: title from Keats’s “Ode to a Nightingale.”

What Flowers are at my Feet (on AO3)

you can also read it on lj at the exchange site.

I got two (two!) wonderful stories for Yuletide!

Lines of Salt (6359 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Killing
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Sarah Linden & Stephen Holder
Characters: Stephen Holder, Sarah Linden
Summary:

He’s sitting in the waiting room (gauze on his cheek and elbow. His hoodie is destroyed and he sort of thinks that’s the true tragedy of this entire operation), watching Carlson’s triumphant press conference on the criminal he just collared, when Linden hobbles out of the back. He stands gingerly and meets her halfway. “Want the good news or the bad news first?”

There is so little fic for the awesomeness that is The Killing, and this is wonderful. The relationship between Holder and Linden is absolutely my favorite part of the show, and this writer captures it beautifully from Holder's point of view.

Other Days for Dreams (2751 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Homeland
Rating: Explicit
Warning: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Nicholas Brody/Carrie Mathison
Characters: Carrie Mathison, Nicholas Brody
Summary:

What brought them together was gone; what was left?

This is a great fic focusing on a pivotal scene at the end of Homeland S2. Carrie and Brody's relationship is endlessly fascinating--and this writer brings out the hotness as well

Also! My gift for the Lewis Secret Santa exchange was posted last week--the very first one!

A Christmas Story (PG, v. mild Lewis/Hathaway first time).

A lovely story featuring H and L as the good eggs they are. It made even a non-Christmas-celebrating Grinch like me melt.

Hope you all had a good holiday, whatever it is you do or do not celebrate

Happy third night of Hanukah!

Taking up this series again--hoping to finish it this week!

This chapter is a little angsty, but things will get better, I promise!

Four Times Sherlock and Lestrade Danced Without touching: Gala

Summary: The next time there was dancing they quarreled. The quarrel was mostly silent, and took place almost entirely inside Lestrade’s head. But it was a quarrel nonetheless.

link to the whole piece

Happy Hanukah, everyone!

The latkes this year were crispy on the outside and cooked on the inside. That doesn't happen every year. Hopefully it was a portent.

Also, there was the Once-a-Year Kugel:

( kugel )

I am trying again to post fics for each night of Hanukah. Tonight, the second chapter of a fic I started last year for Hanukah. I'm somewhat startled that I've finished it. It is now the second longest thing I've ever written.

The Adventure of the Tattooed Fighter

H50/SH xover sent in late nineteenth-century London. Pretty much PG-13, but with establish H/W.

Hope everyone's had a festive Saturday of one sort or another!

Title: Phantaguesia
Rating: PG (with violent combat imagery), gen
Genre: h/c
Warnings: This is a fic about PTSD and triggers. If you'd like to know what the triggers are before reading, the warning is in the end notes on AO3.
Spoilers: none, set during S1
Word count: ~4.5K
Disclaimer: Neither these characters nor these stories are mine. Further references in the end notes on AO3.

a/n: for the "PTSD" square on my hc_bingo card.
a/n: thank you to garryowen for the beta. all remaining mistakes my own.
a/n: further notes with the fic.

Summary: Some things take a while to go away.

Phantaguesia (link goes to AO3)