Candy Hearts Exchange - recs

My gift: an exchange between two people associated with the Bridgertons; one about to marry into the family, the other already married (and with a long association with the Bridgerton about to be married).

A Series of Absurdities (1725 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Bridgerton (TV)
Relationships: Kate Sharma & Simon Basset
Characters: Kate Sharma, Simon Basset
Additional Tags: Canon Compliant, Engaged Anthony Bridgerton/Kate Sharma, Siblings-in-Law Bonding, Candy Hearts Exchange 2024
Summary: When the Duchess of Hastings hosts a dinner in honour of her soon-to-be sister-in-law, Kate takes the opportunity to hear about another side of her fiancé.

my thoughts: I just love the idea of Simon and Kate being all "we adore these people, but this family is NUTS".

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Building a Reprise (1371 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: NCIS
Relationships: Ziva David/Anthony DiNozzo
Characters: Ziva David, Anthony DiNozzo
Additional Tags: 5 Times, Episode: s11e02 Past Present and Future (NCIS), Episode: s17e11 In the Wind (NCIS)
Summary: "We should go," she says, but she doesn't move, and neither does he.

my thoughts: I gave up on NCIS over a decade ago, but this is a great little piece detailing their relationship through the ages.

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Partisan (1702 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Characters: Lyra Erso, Jyn Erso, Saw Gerrera
Additional Tags:

tags contain spoilers

Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Reverse Chronology, Extra Treat

Summary: She’s always been a strategist, too. It’s what Galen had loved about her.

my thoughts: I didn't read the tags before reading this, so getting to the end was a moment of ooooohhhh. I love it when a fic manages to do that to me!

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Increments of Ten (2479 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Doctor Who (2005)
Relationships: The Doctor (Doctor Who) & Martha Jones
Characters: Martha Jones, Eleventh Doctor (Doctor Who), Fourteenth Doctor (Doctor Who), Ninth Doctor (Doctor Who), Fourth Doctor (Doctor Who)
Additional Tags: 5 Times
Summary: Martha is seeing a lot of Doctors hanging around. Figuring out why helps her figure out a few other things about the Doctor.

my thoughts: Have I watched Doctor Who? Not in years! But I know the general gist of how things have gone/went, and so this most definitely works for me. Also, I was never particularly happy with how Martha got depicted (one of the reasons I backed away from DW) so this was a definite balm.

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Get Your Knuckles Bloody for Me (6221 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: House of the Dragon (TV)
Relationships: Daemon Targaryen/Rhaenyra Targaryen, Aemma Arryn & Rhaenyra Targaryen, Aemma Arryn & Daemon Targaryen, Aemma Arryn/Viserys I Targaryen
Characters: Rhaenyra Targaryen, Aemma Arryn, Daemon Targaryen, Viserys I Targaryen
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Aemma Arryn Lives, Scheming, blood oath, First Time, Secret Relationship
Summary: Aemma may not care for her daughter's choice of husband, but when a far worse option presents himself, she'll do anything to help Rhaenyra get what - and who - she wants.

my thoughts: I have never read ASOIAF, nor watched GOT, and certainly not HotD. So I have no idea why I clicked on this fic, but it very much works for me. Definitely a little twisted, but also compelling.

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All that the Light Touches (695 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Relationships: Éowyn/Faramir (Tolkien)
Characters: Éowyn (Tolkien), Faramir (Tolkien)
Additional Tags: Established Relationship, Trust, Trust Kink
Summary: Faramir takes Éowyn to the outpost at Henneth Annûn.

my thoughts: Just a lovely little moment of trust between these two.

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Home Cooking (1945 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Doctor Who (2005), Doctor Who
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Fourteenth Doctor & Donna Noble
Characters: Fourteenth Doctor (Doctor Who), Donna Noble
Additional Tags: Domesticity, Food, Introspection, Running away and coming back
Summary: The Doctor runs away from home. Donna saves him some dinner.

my thoughts: For me, not having watched DW in years (cf the previous DW rec), I'm glad I read this one after reading 'Increments of Ten' because it made a lot more sense in the light of revelations from that one. Not that the two are related in terms of authorage, just that both touch on the Doctor and his issues and the psychology of his interactions with the companions, and then with Donna as a companion.

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Of Blue Devils and Red Squirrels (2835 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Master and Commander - All Media Types
Relationships: Jack Aubrey & Stephen Maturin
Characters: Stephen Maturin, Jack Aubrey, The crew of the HMS Surprise
Additional Tags: Age of Sail, the advancement of natural philosophy, slice of maritime life, nautical jargon ahoy
Summary: When the HMS Surprise puts into the island of Borneo, Stephen tries to catch a rare and curious beast, and Jack tries to help.

my thoughts: The language caught me a little by surprise in this one, but it's a delightful picture of the friendship between these two.

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Peace, Perfect Peace (4353 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Blue Castle - L. M. Montgomery
Relationships: Barney Snaith/Valancy Stirling
Characters: Barney Snaith, Valancy Stirling, Amelia Stirling, Benjamin Stirling, Olive Stirling, Cousin Georgiana (Blue Castle), a whole host of other Stirling family members
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Awkward Family Dinners, Cats
Summary: At the close of their enchanted year, Valancy and Barney are welcomed back to Deerwood society, and must contend with the Stirling clan's determined efforts at ingratiation.

my thoughts: Oof. The Stirlings. What a family! (Cousin Georgiana is a dear, though.)

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Love Thy Neighbours (896 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Emma - Jane Austen
Relationships: Augusta Elton/Philip Elton
Characters: Augusta Elton, Philip Elton
Additional Tags: Canon Compliant, Missing Scene, Flash Fic, Treat
Summary: The Eltons discuss Jane Fairfax’s engagement.

my thoughts: LOL. This is perfectly characterised, full of the underlying disdain of the Eltons, and rather entertaining. I admit I was hoping for an ending about their reaction to Emma's engagement to Mr. Knightley, but perhaps the author could be prevailed upon for a Part II?

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I've only gotten about halfway through the collection, I'm sticking to fandoms I know, and/or pairings that intrigue me.

The big surprise is probably the House Of The Dragon fic. I think I'm kind of sideways interested in Daemon/Rhaenyra, but I wouldn't want to watch the show, and I don't know that I'd trust the majority of the fic either. It's a conundrum!

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I have two fics in the collection, one is bleeding obvious, the other is probably a mystery.

bits and pieces and stuff

So much going on at the neigbour's house right now. Whew! New carpet this morning. A new step. Repainting. (Serious repainting.) So many little improvements going on, I bet the old!neighbour won't even recognise the place. I think I mentioned tradies coming and going at all hours of the day, and things happening at too-early hours of the day? Maybe that was on the book face? Anyway, it's not disruptive, per se, but I am feeling a little anxious about whoever is going to move in (eventually).

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Work is work. Eh. Still haven't been assigned another client, so...I guess I'm still at current client?

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My body is all sore today and I don't know why. I tried one of the 'other' treadmills at the gym - maybe that's it? Not your usual treadmill, this one has a concave 'tread' and a surface like a 'caterpillar', and the speed is controlled by a resistance lever. The more resistance, the slower you go. This kind of treadmill requires a lot more 'core strength' to run on, and I'm wondering if my 10 minute walk/run overdid it somehow.

Got a personal training session at 5pm today. We'll see how it all goes...

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Wrote a treat for Candy Hearts Exchange, got a comment...by someone who isn't the recip. That's pretty unusual. Also, it's not a name I recognise, and not someone who usually comments on the fic I'm known to write. So. Interesting.