in my life

Flying out tomorrow night, and I have a list of over 40 items to check off before I go to sleep tonight, only one of which is 'pack'. Thankfully, one of the items it to write this post, so I am checking that one off as we speak.

The friend from Israel who was supposed to join me on vacation will not be able to due to visa issues (that were discovered 24h before her flight /o\), which sucks a lot, and also means I'm going to be a little more flexible with my availability.

Right now I'm looking at NYC and a bunch of East Coast area cities... hoping to catch some of you there <3

Meanwhile I am so very very very tired and cannot believe preparing my apartment for a home exchange is taking this much work. It's still worth it - I think, I hope - but it's really not fair that I'm finally cleaning random drawers for strangers, when I don't ever for myself.

It is my own fault I'm tired. Made the terribly timed plan of booking theater tickets yesterday, a production of Fiddler on the Roof that reminded me just how good a play this is, followed by me staying up was too late reading this Harry/Draco fic because I am having a renaissance and this fic was just unstoppable, and here I am now, trying not to fall asleep as an empty suitcase looms in front of me.

My main prep for the flight is really just buy preemptive meds for when I get covid since I cannot realistically fathom not catching it in the next 3 weeks, but here's hoping *fingers crossed*

Okay I HAVE to sign up for yuletide tonight but also gah I am TIRED and want sleep and to be rested for the upcoming week! I've just spent 2 hours reviewing the fandom lists and narrowing it down to 29 that I can either request or offer, but now it's time to actually nominate and I have to... do that thing where you choose. And I can't even trust myself to finish this tonight really, because this week I've fallen asleep in the middle of working on my computer every single day, then women up and caught up on work at like 1AM-3AM, and then went back to sleep. It was not fun.

ANYWAY. Sign ups tonight - or tomorrow morning - and then sleep.

Until then I will say 3 things:

1. I just had the best french toast I've ever had in my life. I understand now what it means to say something's melted in your mouth because this melted in my mouth, it was so delicious, and if you're ever in Tel Aviv and are not lactose or gluten intolerant then please, please let me know and I'll take you there. Tragically they only serve this dish on Friday mornings BUT apparently they sometimes agree to make it on other days when there's no rush, hence tonight.

2. Tara Westover's memoir Educated is a fascinating read about her growing up with in survivalist Mormon family (off the grid, no birth certificates, no hospitals, no school) and ended up leaving and getting an education and a PhD from Cambridge - I heard it as an audiobook (which you can apparently borrow from libraries (!!!!!) whaaat), which is read by Julia Whelan whom I now want to subscribe to because she's so good. Can she please record all the books.

3. If all goes well, I shall be in NYC from around November 1st to around November 15th! I'll be working during the week, and have at least one full weekend. Will try to take 1-2 other days off, too. Really hoping there's some foliage left by the time I get there. Looking forward to boots weather. As usual, would love to meet who I can <3

Yesterday I ended up staying home sick instead of working and slept until literally after sundown, but after some chicken soup I snuggled up with the comfort of Yuletide fics.

I received the following wonderful story as my gift:

A Note to Myself (2972 words)
Fandom: Younger
Rating: Teen
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Liza/Charles
Summary: After Josh's wedding, Liza accidentally replies to Charles's phone call from Ireland. Post episode for Irish Goodbye, Season 4, episode 12.

It was just the kind of post season 4 closure I could have wished for (grrr why do shows take a YEAR in between seasons!), and I thank the mystery author (AND FELLOW YOUNGER FAN high five) very much.

Then, today I received a gift notification for a treat! Someone wrote me a Gifted/MCU crossover. I love yuletide's ability to make your dream prompts come true.

In general I will say that all of the fics written for Gifted this year are pretty wonderful, so like, that's my general rec for this yuletide, if you liked the movie :-)

1. Watched Thor: Ragnarok last night and enjoyed it a ton, as expected. Feel free to talk at me, or headcanon me, or... whatever you want. It's not a spoiler that Bruce Banner/Hulk are in this movie, and as one who does not usually enjoy his portrayal of Bruce nor Bruce's character in general in the MCU, after the movie I immediately re-recced a friend what is not only an amazing Bruce fic but really one of the best fics I've ever read, the kind of fic that if I had to gently introduce a newcomer to fanfic via Avengers gen, I would 100% use this and I'm sure it would blow their minds. It is an old fic but the fic that made me not only like but love Bruce, at least this iteration of him, and I know I'm late to discovering it like I am to most MCU things but nevertheless here it is: the Responsible Science series by lettered, and specifically, parts four (The Kids Aren't Alright - age regression, gen) and five (Let's Stop the Time Warp (Again) - groundhog day, gen). Those are the only two in the series I read but I couldn't stop thinking about them for days afterwards - such a good team dynamic between Bruce, Steve, Tony, Pepper and the other Avengers. So if you're in the mood for Bruce, post Thor, I so so so recommend it.

2. I'm in the middle of a Stranger Things season 1 rewatch. I watched season 2 last weekend, threw up a lot but not all of my immediate feelings in kitajmaze's post here, then went back to season 1 to rewatch all the fun character bits, the binged on cast interviews (and man do I need to find a way to watch more full episodes of Beyond Stranger Things), read as much fic as existed within the first few days of the season's release, and then roped another friend to watch season 1 by promising to watch it with her, so we've been going through season 1 again in full. So uh. As you might be able to tell: this show + my heart = true love.

2.5 Speaking of Stranger Things, let me just throw this prompt out there and beg for someone in the universe to pick it up, because just imagine: the Winter Soldier escaping in the '80s. A group of kids in Hawkins, Indiana finding him in the woods. Recognizing him as Bucky Barnes and having faith that there's still good in him. The Winter Soldier meeting Eleven.

.................I'm just saying. *gets down on knees and prays for this fic to exist*

3. I had two job interviews last week that didn't go amazingly by I'm glad to get the practice of interviewing, after not having done it for years. Got rejected from one, and a homework assignment from the other, which I'm halfway through, so that's nice. Sent my CV to a few other places this week too, and had two lunches with also unemployed friends who are in a similar place as I am, both of which were helpful, motivation-wise.

4. I was going to go to Haifa this morning, but all of the signs warned against it: the trains were cancelled. Then we discovered there'd be heavy traffic because of the Haifa marathon. Then whatsapp crashed. So it's a good thing I didn't go, and instead spent the morning watching outdoor jazz at Ben Gurion Avenue with iced coffee and fruit salad in the sun.

5. I have more weekend plans and coffee and ice cream, all of which are nice. Well, the Rabin memorial assembly tomorrow evening is perhaps not the same category of nice, but if it'll be as big as the event planners are hoping it will be - well. I really hope it'll be big.

6. OH I ALMOST FORGOT. This is just to say - two weeks ago I watched a musical that was, like, WRITTEN FOR ME OKAY - for me and also for a whole bunch of you, I bet, and I wish you could all be here to see it with me. It's titled King Saul and YES IT IS A MUSICAL ABOUT KING SAUL, you can watch the trailer here, and it starts with the people asking Samuel for a king and ends with Saul's death on Mount Gilboa and David's lamentation and god, it was so brilliantly written and performed with such a talented cast. I had a few small issues with it - their David was not quite my favorite iteration of David (he was manipulative and seductive but didn't quite have the heart that my favorite versions of David, which might be imaginary, do) - but it was just so freaking good. I would totally buy the album if they had one. My face hurt from smiling by the time the show was over, not necessarily because it was funny the whole way through, but because I could hardly suppress the squeeful grin I had on my face the entire time. And Saul was never one of my favorite characters, but oh, man, did I feel for him here, for better or worse (and of course there was worse). Poor guy only wanted to fund his asses :(

The production plays about once a month and if you find yourself in the area, I do recommend it.

This should have been an instarec, but it's taken me too long for it to actually count as insta-anything. BUT: Yidlife Crisis - I'm guessing some of you might have already known about this short webseries, and some of you may have encountered it, as I did, when Mayim Bialik guest starred in their latest episode a week ago, which I am glad to see has already gotten half a million views on youtube.

Even if you've seen that episode, I beg of you, especially those of you who have some kind of connection to Judaism, check out the rest - they are so much freaking fun.

Yidlife Crisis (links to all youtube videos) is a Yiddish comedy webseries, currently in its second season with seven episodes overall, about two best friends, who sit around in Montreal restaurants and debate life, food, and Jewish identity... in Yiddish. The creators (and stars) of the show are Jamie Elman & Eli Batalion, two actors, artists and sometime friends, who studied Yiddish together at school, and years later met up again and decided to do something about it. They play Chaimie, a secular atheist, and Leizer, whose values are slightly more traditional, and maybe it says something about me, but watching these episodes was the most I've laughed out loud for a long time.

I'm not someone who grew up hearing Yiddish other than the occasional phrase - more on TV than anywhere IRL - and it's such a delight to hear it spoken here, their conversations weaving in and out of English, French and Yiddish so naturally.

Each episode is a standalone, so you can start anywhere! If you just want to sample, start with one of these:
Episode #1.1 - Breaking the Fast - I feel like half the views on this video are mine.
Episode #2.3 - The Double Date - the one with Mayim Bialik
Episode #2.1 - Off The Top - a really fun 16-minute episode, unlike the usual 5 minutes a piece

Warning 1: there is lots of food porn. Do not watch when hungry.
Warning 2: the series is rated ח"י (or 18+) for language. When they disclaim "do not watch with your grandparents"... do not watch with your grandparents ;)
Warning 3: if no one nominates this for Yuletide next year I will be very peeved.

Had a day off from work today, which I spent mostly in bed, not doing many things I had planned to but catching up on Quantico and reading fic. Quantico remains the most bizarre hybrid of Grey's Anatomy/How to Get Away With Murder and Homeland, and basically has nothing going for it except for cliffhangers and Priyanka Chopra being breathtaking in every way, and yet I've watched six episodes in the past two days. The more they delve into the ~middle east conflict~ and the tortured psyche of a former IDF soldier character, however, the more I regret that decision, although I am enjoying his attempts at Hebrew. I suspect this will continue to be a show I catch up on in bursts, when the rest of my TV schedule fails to provide me with entertainment on a weekly basis.

Meanwhile, have two recs for super fun fics I read today:

rage, rage against the buying of the phone by dollsome (Gilmore Girls, Luke/Lorelei, 2000 words, G, gen)
It comes as a surprise to exactly no one that Luke Danes is not a fan of the smart phone. To put it lightly. This doesn’t stop Lorelai from talking him into getting one. After a long, hard road of needling, nagging, and (when all else fails) flagrant seduction.
This is so adorable and hits the Luke/Lorelei banter perfectly and made me laugh a lot.

finishing the hat by screamlet (Hamilton - musical, Hamilton & kids, 12000 words, PG-13, gen)
The summer after publishing the Reynolds Pamphlet, Alexander Hamilton takes a trip to Philadelphia with Philip, Angelica, and Alex Jr.
I am in love with all of the author's Hamilton fics, and this one was longer so I enjoyed it that much more. Includes a lot of humor, Hamilton's kids being awesome, Jefferson being an asshole, Abigail Adams' perfection, and Hamilton being a mess, but a mess who tries. Takes place after The Reynolds Pamphlet, where family dynamics are rife with tension and you kind of want to give Hamilton a slap along with a hug, and all that said, all of the character voices are hilarious and make me want approximately 50k more of this.

It is the eighth night of Hanukkah, so chag sameach to anyone celebrating, and may your dinners be oily, sweet and satisfying.

ETA: oh PS if anyone is wondering whether I used any of this day off to work on my yuletide story? The answer is no. No, I did not. I can see you fainting from shock from way over here.

It's been an... eventful few days. I spent last weekend visiting my baby sister in Brussels, where she moved over the summer for an airline security job. We flew out quite a group - my parents, aunt and uncle, and my grandmother, who was one of the reasons I wanted to join now and not go visit baby sis on my own; I want to take every opportunity I can to travel with her, and she was amazing. Not only did she match us step for step, but she also - has this way of making stories happen around her. There was a point when we were in the main square of the old town at night, watching couples waltz around a huge lit up Christmas tree, and she was captivated by the dancing of this one 70-year-old Belgian couple. She later went over to strike a broken-English conversation, and of course it turned out that she'd honed in on the one random French-Belgian-Jewish couple in the mix; with the man managing an "I speak a little Hebrew", and stories about how he was in Israel with a familiar youth movement back in the fifties.

It was a short trip - just a weekend really, with a day in Brussles and a day in Antwerp, and it was so much fun. Europe is beautiful, and refreshingly freezing, at least those parts; and more than anything, it was fun and utterly bizarre seeing my little sister as, like, a kind-of -- I guess entirely, really - grown up. With an adult job, and an adult apartment, living abroad, doing everything for herself. I'm super proud of her, and a little jealous - she may not have long-term plans yet, but she seems really good with where she's at right now - but mostly I'm just happy for her cause she seems happy, and relieved that she's so. It was also great to see her so I could miss her a little - I love my sisters, but we're not a touchy-feely family, and we're not best friends (not that siblings should or shouldn't be, just - I'm contrasting myself with those who are), and it's so easy to just get caught up in life and not really miss her absence. It's not like when she was in Israel we talked on the phone or spent a lot of time together - we had the occasional text message, and mostly we'd meet at my parents' house for Friday night dinner, and that's it. My relationship with middle sister is the same, and we literally live a fifteen minute walk away from each other. So... it's basically out of sight, out of mind, I'm not inventing anything new here. But I was really glad to spend time with baby sis this weekend, which... made me miss her more. In a good way. And not for long, happily, I'll see her again in two months for a few days of ski.

I got back on Monday, and then had two or three days more of Yuletide to finish up, which also panic-preparing for an eighth-candle lighting I had at my place. It was my first time hosting this group of people, and I think it went well - my favorite dish on earth aka mom's corn soup turned out amazing, marina helped me fry up latkes (with a grated yam tossed in too - amazing), and everyone eventually found parking, which I consider a success. And then more Yuletide, thank you to my handholders who did not give up hope.

On Wednesday the choir I'm in (I joined an acapella choir!) had a tiny little performance, singing two songs at this event, which was fun, and then on Thursday I took a day off work, which was so needed and lovely. I visited my former boss/current friend and met her newborn, and the most magical thing happened omg: consider that I don't have a lot of experience with babies and I hardly ever hold any, but she gave me the baby while she made coffee, and a few moments into my arms the baby started fussing, and I started singing to it and IT WORKED and she just -- snuggled in and went to sleep. I SANG HER TO SLEEP. It was amazing. I know it does not sound like the most thrilling thing in the universe but believe me it was SPECIAL.

Since I was in the center of Tel Aviv which is this crazy consumerism vortex, I ended up buying four bras (they are great bras) and a pair of boots. They are great boots. They are plain black leather, and have been purchased as a replacement of the black leather boots I bought last year right before I left for the states. Those boots had been new, but apparently three months of daily wear in the New York winter got the best of them, since there's a hole in the sole that's not worth fixing. These new ones were twice as cheap and I'm hoping will last more than twice as long, cause, I mean, it was eighteen degrees celsius here today. That's winter.

Oh Friday I met LJ-friend-who-is-visiting! <3. It used to be that every summer some LJ people would visit Israel, but that's not happening so much anymore (why did everyone have to grow up and not be eligible for Birthright anymore and have jobs they can't take days off of). So it's really fun when I do get to meet old friends :D

Yesterday morning I went to a museum to see the World Press Photo contents exhibition. It was nice, but not as awe-striking as the first time I saw it was.

My goals for the end of the month are... to manage to read as many more Yuletide stories as I can while authors are still anon. And to take care of two important work things that have to do with uh, me getting money. Let's make sure that happens, self, hmm?

Day whatever recs:

Вме́сте те́сно, а врозь ску́чно. by Anonymous (3829 words, Mature, Молодежка | Junior League, Yegor Schukin/Andrei Kislyak)

Summary: or, “Together, it's cramped; apart, it's boring.”

“You were distracting me,” Yegor says.

“Wasn’t.” Andrei skates in a tight circle around Yegor, poking at his chest when he ends up back in front of him. “Beat you fair and square.”

Yegor pulls his helmet off. His hair is sticking up in sweaty spikes. “And I suppose you’ll want a reward for this, hmm.”

It’s said flatly, no inflection at all. Andrei’s breath catches anyway.

“I think I deserve one,” he says.

This was the story that was gifted to me. Lovely, gorgeously-written story that nails Andrei Kislyak's characterization dead on, and rich irritated troubled angry teenagers in general. The fandom is Junior League, which s a Russian hockey teen show that can be found on Hulu - it's basically like hockey FNL (except, you know, not), and both the show and the fic are great.

I Build It Up by Anonymous (4372 words, rated G, The Less Than Epic Adventures of TJ and Amal, TJ/Amal)

Summary: Long distance buddy breathing.

This is so, so so so great. It's everything you could want out of a sequel to the comic, it's god great characterization for both of them and just perfect dialogues, good insights, beautiful prose. I considering this to be my canonic epilogue to the comic.

I can't decide if I'm more dismayed or freaked out at today's news of a Palestinian minister being killed in a confrontation with the IDF. Sorry, dying in a confrontation, as per Ynet's headline, he just dropped dead, you know, terrible timing. The item's already been bumped from the headlines in favor of news about the economy, which feels like wishful thinking. If it's not on the front page, it'll just be a non-story. And I'm just - this feels like a catalyst. Of what, I don't know yet.

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Worst juxtaposition ever, but if you're in the mood for a punch-in-the-feels holocaust short film, watch Nyosha. I went to a short film screening at the cinematheque Monday night, which promoted a really cool concept - a selection of Israeli short films (all around 10 mins or under) that will be aired in the upcoming year as the "first course" before feature films at the cinematheque. Watching assortments like this are always hit or miss, and there were a few misses, but Nyosha wasn't one of them; it's a stop motion claymation short, telling a single childhood story narrated by a survivor.

(Meanwhile, another film screened there told the story of a girl auditioning for her middle school's Holocaust Day ceremony play. To the dismay of the other girls in drama class, she gets the main part. "It isn't fair!" one of the girls finally cries out. "She's Moroccan! Her family wasn't even in the Holocaust!". The teacher silences the other girls, as the heroine quietly says, "I'm Greek." At home that day, she asks her mom if Greece was in the Holocaust. "Oh sure," her mother says. "Greece was one of the first countries conquered." "Did we have any family there?" the girl asks. "Oh, no," mom assures her, "our family's been here for eight generations." "Oh," the girl says, disappointed. The mom looks at her for a few moments, and finally sits down next to her and takes her hand. "But we have a large family," she says. "You never know, right? Anything could have happened." And on that hopeful note, the film ends. It was very... on the spot.)

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Last night I got home from work starved and made the incredibly lazy and therefore expensive culinary decision of take out pad thai (58 shekels). I've recently started eating light lunches instead of fuller meals, which means I'm hungrier at dinner time - BAD NEWS for me, since with regards to the effort I want to put into cooking, I'd much rather order a big lunch at a restaurant near work, and put together a light dinner at home. Alas, today I once again had a sandwich for lunch. But dinner. I will - well, whatever I do, I will not spend 60 shekels on it today, how about that.

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And meanwhile in hockey, the Blackhawks had a game last night, and for whatever reason this gifset happened. I'm not even asking questions, okay. If Jonathan Toews wants to take his shirt off in the middle of a game, may the gods shine upon him (and on ALL OF US). I'll just be here enjoying his, uh, flush. And pointing out that while in soccer a player taking his shirt off would be, well, shirtless, in hockey a player taking off his jersey to reveal layers and layers of clothing and pads is downright erotic.

Day 9, Day 10 recs:

I conveniently found a draft post with a few recs from two years ago which I apparently never posted, so let's go with all of them for today. Warnings listed on AO3.

Written All Over My Face by rsadelle (Explicit, 4678 words)
Short, hot and sweet. Kaner and Tazer hook up sometimes. Patrick likes wearing Tazer's jersey.

Your Daddy's Aim Is True by thefourthvine (Explicit, 14,986 words, kidfic)
Magic baby fic! Wherein Kaner and Tazer have a magic baby *___* HOW INCONVENIENT. Takes place post 2011-2012 season, with all of the tension the early playoff elimination that entailed. Everyone is confused by the magical baby's appearance, and Kaner and Tazer try to deal. I love stories with babies falling asleep on sleepy barechested men, and I love stories where Tazer underestimates Kaner (especially in all things emotional-maturity-related), and I love stories by TFV. You may be surprised to hear that I love this story ♥. Warning: reading about taking care of a day-old/week-old baby may make you feel utterly exhausted. (meep babies)

Once, Twice, Three Times a Broshie by queeniegalore (Explicit, 2437 words, Kaner/Tazer/Oshie)
I will let the official summary speak for this one: Kaner convinces Tazer that a threesome with TJ will be a totally awesome idea. Tazer ponders the choices in his life that have led him to this point. Except really it's just bro porn. Which among you did not want to read the fic where Kaner and Oshie double team Tazer? Ugh <3. Hot and funny and everyone being comfortable and slightly dickish (ha) to each other, it's great.

you're with a winner so, baby, you can't lose by zarathuse (PG-13, 9302 words)
Post-2012 season fic. Wherein Kaner freaks out about getting traded/Tazer going to play for Winnipeg, and makes the mistake of going on the message boards, not necessarily in that order. Zara knows how to write this perfect blend of ridiculous cracky humor and actually freaking touching honest communication between characters, and her Kaner POV (drunk and sober) remains one of my all time favorites.
Summary: The next thing Patrick knows, it’s 4 am and he’s spent the last three hours arguing with strangers online. He’s also polished off the rest of the bottle of wine and cracked open a few beers to get rid of the terrible aftertaste, so his comments at this point are mostly just shit like TAZER LOVS IT IN CHICAGO SHUTF YR STUPID FACE.

i'll keep an eye on you if you keep one on me by marycontraire (Mature, 32659 words)
In which Jonathan Toews grounds Patrick Kane for the summer. Kaner doesn't seem to mind much, is the thing.
Slow, long d/s-dynamics development fic, talking place post the 2012 season. Where Tazer's had enough of Kaner's behavior and "grounds" him for the summer. This fic has a long, slow build up of increasingly prominent d/s dynamics, which Tazer only starts putting a name to halfway through the fic, and once he does, (after freaking out for a bit, you know how it goes), he starts educating himself and treating the issue with more responsibility.

I really enjoyed this fic, but I'll warn in advance that the author chose not to put any AO3 warnings on this fic (which is warned for), and that some readers were triggered by/disliked the story mostly because they felt that Tazer's behavior was abusive.

Yes, it is time to admit it. I have not actually been posting December entries at 11:59PM each night, but have, in fact, been backdating entries posted a full 30-60 minutes later. Or in today's case, 6AM. Let's face it, there's virtually no way for me to actually manage posting coherent things by midnight, so I'm just going to post whenever I post and as long as it's before I've gone asleep for the night, I'll consider it today. (I mean, most of you not only don't care anyhow, but are also still living in yesterday, I know this. I'm just - clarifying the rules here.)

I have no actual proof of this since I don't have a TARDIS, but I'm pretty convinced I helped prevent the Great Fire of Tel Aviv 2014. Two friends and I were walking around Kerem Hateymanim - a low housed, very crowded old neighborhood - at night when we noticed a junk mattress standing against two trash cans on the side of the street, a small flame licking outside its top right corner. The mattress was standing just below both a tree and an electricity pole.

The flame was small enough that we thought we might be able to put it out with water. While one friend went to fetch a hose/bucket from her nearby apartment, I called the fire department, and my other friend pushed over the mattress so that it lay in the middle of the (pedestrian) street instead of standing up. By then, the fire was large enough that there was no way for us to put it out and we didn't want to breathe in any toxins so we stayed a few meters away. The fire spread so quickly, it was mesmerizing, and grew maybe 2-3 meters tall - definitely high enough that had the mattress still been standing, the tree would have caught fire for sure, and who knows what else; the tree was also hanging over a roof. There wasn't much left by the time the fire truck showed up - just a few lingering low flamed which they put out by spraying a shit ton of water, all over the mattress remains, the trash cans, the tree just in case. The whole thing just happened so fast. We don't know what caused the fire but probably just someone carelessly tossing a cigarette butt in the general trash area because people are idiots. In any case, disaster averted! I was pleased.

Meanwhile, marina and I went to a Friday afternoon performance arts-themed pub quiz today. It was incredibly fun - I had so much fun going to pub quiz nights in NYC last year and searched and searched and searched for local equivalents, and finally there is one! There was a film round, theater round, musicals, music, Disney, red carpet... basically right up our alley, and we did excellently for a team of two if I may say so myself (I may), though we arrived 4th out of five. Our team name was The Mighty Ducks (though, retroactively, would have been better as The Mumpy Ducks), though actually actually would have been far better as something entirely different. Anyone have good ideas for team names? I have absolutely no problem stealing if it means getting a cool name.

Finally, went to my folks for dinner, watched TV and cuddled with the dog who was basking in weekend attention and entirely too cute not to take a million photos of, oh my god look at her: ( Read more... )

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Day 5 rec, because bar quiz:
Rattle The One Whose Shadow You're Standing In by jezziejay (Hockey RPF, Mature, 4700 words, Kane/Toews, fake dating)
Summary: Jonny EMTs, captains a bar quiz team, and pines for NICU nurse Kaner.

This is both a bar quiz AU and a fake dating AU and I cannot with how cute it is. jezziejay writes the most hilarious romcom-style fics, and this one has Jonny agreeing to play Kaner's boyfriend to make Kaner's crush, Doctor Do Me, notice him. Just fluffy, happymaking, and really fucking funny, with great banter and great mocking and great team.

Note: it's posted in a collection of stories, so "Chapter 1" is actually the entirety of the fic and completely standalone.

Post friend's engagement party dinner, it's way too late and I have company, so I'll just shoot this off quick:

Day 3 rec:

How To Grow The Perfect Playoff Beard In One Simple Chomp by jedusaur (Hockey/Teen Wolf crossover, 18,000 words, explicit). Where Kaner spends the year coaching hockey at the Teen Wolf high school, for, well, reasons. I don't watch Teen Wolf and have only read a few fics, but this was such a fun fic to read – I love Kaner mentoring (and being weirded out by) these kids, and the way the supernatural elements were woven in, and the Jonny and Derek subplots both.