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Rebuilding journal search again

We're having to rebuild the search server again (previously, previously). It will take a few days to reindex all the content.

Meanwhile search services should be running, but probably returning no results or incomplete results for most queries.

Entry tags:

Lord Peter Wimsey: Tea For Two by Beatrice_Otter

Fandom: Lord Peter Wimsey - Dorothy L. Sayers
Characters/Pairings: Harriet Vane & Mary Wimsey
Rating: Gen
Length: 1951
Creator Links: Beatrice_Otter on AO3
Themes: Female relationships, Female friendship, Female characters

Summary: "I was complaining to my brother about how few friends I had, and he suggested that you might be an interesting person to know."

After Harriet is exonerated, she and Mary Wimsey meet for tea.

Reccer's Notes: A lovely, quietly perceptive story about two slightly lonely women finding commonalities and starting to become friends - one of Lord Peter's more successful machinations. It's beautifully written and the author's note at the end is interesting if you're a fan of the Wimsey books.

Fanwork Links: Tea For Two

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Deadloch: Keep On Gruckin' by kirazi

Fandom: Deadloch
Characters/Pairings: Dulcie Collins/Eddie Redcliffe/Cath York
Rating: Explicit
Length: 5010
Content Notes: not kidding about the rating
Creator Links: kirazi on AO3
Themes: Female relationships, Femslash, Polyamory, Friends to lovers

Summary: “This is not a good idea, love,” Dulcie says, keeping her tone level. “I know I said I’d try to be more open to change, and I hear and respect your opinion, I truly do, but this is — it’s like the hobby farm. It’s really not going to work.”

“I just think,” Cath says, bright-eyed and earnest, “that it would be a healing experience for me. For us both! To share that kind of intimacy. I am committed to working through my anxiety about you fucking your partner and I’m sure that would be so much more manageable for me if we fucked her first. Together.”

(Eddie needs a gruck. Dulcie and Cath offer to help her out.)

Reccer's Notes: This is a polyamory fic where Cath decides she and Dulcie should have sex with Eddie so as to manage her anxiety that Dulcie might be unfaithful with Eddie (as happened in the past with a former partner at work). There's some nice psychological and historical exploration as Dulcie tries to work out what's going on, and the eventual sex is hot and well-written. What I like most is the character voices and dialogue for the three of them, which are spot on. It's also very funny, as are Eddie's creative takes on the English language.

Fanwork Links: Keep On Gruckin'

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Midsommar: a queen for all seasons by Selkit

Fandom: Midsommar
Characters: Dani Ardor, Hanna, Siv
Rating: T
Length: 4,212
Creator Links:

Selkit
Theme: female relationships

Summary: In her dreams, dark smudges crowd the edges of the world. One looms larger than the rest, twisting into impossible shapes, morphing into a figure with many faces, all of them howling with rage.

When she jolts awake, the dream-figure lingers. She tries to ignore it. She’s no stranger to nightmares. Her whole life has been one ever since her family’s deaths.

But things are different now. This is a new life. A new family.

Right?

Reccer's Notes: I love seeing what happens with Dani after the events of Midsommar, and this is such a good look at the continued ritual of being the May Queen! I am a known ho for ritual, but especially building off of the existing worldbuilding in such a believable way. I really enjoyed seeing more of Dani interacting with the other women of the Hårga as she learns to be part of her new family and culture. Plus the parts with Maja’s (and Christian’s) daughter were just perfect.

Fanwork Links: on AO3

Entry tags:

Original Work: Always with you by Anonymous

Fandom: original work
Characters/Pairings: powerful mage/warrior bonded to her
Rating: G
Length: n/a
Creator Links: creators have been revealed but the artist chose to make the work anon.
Themes: Female relationships, Femslash, Female characters, Characters of color, Magic

Summary: none provided

Reccer's Notes: Another gorgeous work from the recent Everything is Femslash exchange. It's in a fantasy setting, featuring a mage and her warrior. I love the warm earthy colours, and how, the mage being a little shorter, their faces and bodies fit together perfectly, and the way they're linked by the swirl of the magical bond. Beautiful. (Note that the post is locked to AO3.)

Fanwork Links: Always with you

Entry tags:

DCU: Office Meeting by Unpretty

Fandom: DC Comics
Pairings/Characters: Pamela Isely/Harleen Quinzel, Bruce Wayne
Rating: Teen
Length: 1,882 words
Creator Links: Unpretty on AO3
Theme: Female relationships, Canon lgbtq+ characters, humour, superpowers

Summary:
Bruce Wayne deals with supervillains almost as much as Batman does.

Reccer's Notes:
Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy break into Bruce Wayne's office to stop Wayne Enterprises from doing evil corporate stuff. Or kill him. Bruce plays dumb. It's glorious.
I love Harley and Ivy's relationship in this. They're so true in how they love and support each other but are definitely super-villains who will definitely kill and/or main whoever gets in their way. Also Bruce's line about how Pamela probably wants to kill him because Harley finds him hot :D Bruce being smart by playing dumb is one of my favourite things.

Fanwork Links: Office Meeting
Also has a podfic!

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Star Trek Reboot: Relaxing by storietellers

Fandom: Star Trek: Reboot
Characters/Pairings: James Kirk/Leonard 'Bones' McCoy
Rating: G
Length: n/a
Creator Links: storietellers on AO3
Themes: Female relationships, Domestic, Femslash

Summary: "Having fun, Bones?"
"Just working out the tension. You really keep it all in your wrists. Keep reading, darlin'. I wanna know what happens next."

Reccer's Notes:
The 'Everything is Femslash' exchange has just revealed creators, and this is a gorgeous artwork of Rule 63 (always a girl) Kirk and McCoy chilling out. The lighting is warm and their likenesses are really well done. It's relaxing just to look at.

Fanwork Links: Relaxing

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Neuromancer; Sprawl Trilogy (William Gibson): Shears, by LizzyChrome.

Fandom: Neuromancer | Sprawl Trilogy - William Gibson
Pairings/Characters: Gen; Sally Shears | Molly Millions & Yanaka Kumiko
Rating: General Audiences
Length: 1,225
Content Notes: No Archive Warnings Apply (but a character’s dark backstory is hinted at.)
Creator Tags: Cyberpunk, razor girl, Friendship, Mentors, Mentor & Protégé, Yakuza, Missing Scene, Female Friendship, Backstory, Fanon
Creator Links: (AO3)

LizzyChrome; (BlueSky):

lizzychrome; (DeviantArt)

lizzychrome; (Facebook)

LizzyChrome; (Instagram)

lizzy_chrome
Theme: Female Relationships, Backstory, Book Fandoms, Female Friendship, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Older Characters, Worldbuilding

Summary: How do Molly's claws and lenses actually work? Kumiko pries. (Missing scene from "Mona Lisa Overdrive.")

Author’s Notes: If you havne't read MLO yet, I won't spoil anything. I'll just set the scene, without giving anyway any important story elements: Molly is now middle-aged, goes by "Sally Shears," and is working as a body guard for a Japanese girl named Kumiko.

I do not own "Mona Lisa Overdrive."

This oldie was written probably over ten years ago. I originally posted it to Fanfiction.net, then took it down, feeling it was pointless. But in light of the new "Neuromancer" show coming out, I want to preserve this little ficlet, to see how my fanon explanation for how Molly's claws work compares to what (if anything) the show gives us regarding that explanation. After a quick re-read, I decided that no edit was needed. What you see here is what I originally posted ten or eleven years ago.

Reccer's Notes: This vignette expands upon an exchange in Mona Lisa Overdrive between aging cyborg mercenary Sally Shears (AKA Molly Millions, Cat Mother, Steppin’ Razor, Rose Kolodny, and Misty Steele—this lady’s got more names than a Wuxia hero) and her charge Yanaka Kumiko; Sally confides measured bits of her backstory to the crushstruck Kumiko, including stripping to bare a torso-long scar (from a near-fatal cagefighting injury, kept “to remind her of being stupid.”)

It’s a precious moment of trust, an elusive commodity in both women’s lives; LizzyChrome elaborates upon this to let Sally hold forth on how her prosthetics work—a question that Gibson chose to bury under Rule of Cool, and that’s challenged two generations’ worth of illustrators and cosplayers.

With the upcoming Neuromancer series on Apple+TV, Molly finally leaves the roster of visually iconic SFF characters not yet defined in the popular imagination by a screen adaptation (1). The Molly in my head admittedly didn’t resemble Briana Middleton, but I look forward to seeing her interpretation of the role (as well as how faithful to the spirit of the book the script gets to be, now that Hollywood has gotten their hands on

(A) a Beloved Property™,

(B) whose cyberpunk dystopia is feeling uncomfortably real in a number of respects—thanks in no small part to megacorporations like Apple.)

(1) Gully Foyle from The Stars My Destination and Elric of Melniboné also come to mind.

Fanwork Links: Shears, by

LizzyChrome.

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SGA: Five Women Who Never Wanted Teyla Emmagan by tielan

Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Characters/Pairings: (attraction only) Teyla Emmagan/Sora, Teyla Emmagan/Elizabeth Weir, Laura Cadman/Teyla Emmagan, Teyla Emmagan/Kate Heightmeyer, Sam Carter/Teyla Emmagan
Rating: G
Length: 2928
Content Notes: no AO3 warnings apply
Creator Links: tielan on AO3
Themes: Female relationships, Female characters, Friendship, Ambiguous relationships

Summary: Desire is a fine line. Five women in Pegasus walk it with care.

Reccer's Notes: This is a well-written exploration of how five women on the Atlantis expedition or elsewhere in Pegasus feel about Teyla. As a twist on the title, they all do or did want Teyla, even if they can't pursue that attraction for a number of reasons. It's also unclear if Teyla reciprocates any of their feelings. Excellent character pieces that ring true.

Fanwork Links: Five Women Who Never Wanted Teyla Emmagan

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DCU: not far from the apples by susiecarter

Fandom: DC, technically the Justice League (2017) movie, but can reasonably fit with most DC timelines
Pairings/Characters: Martha Kent, Atlanna
Rating: T
Length: 2,909 words
Creator Links: susiecarter
Theme: Female Relationships, Female Friendship, Gen, Minor Characters, Superpowers

Summary: There's a very unusual woman on the train, when Martha boards just outside Metropolis.

Reccer's Notes: I love depictions of Martha Kent where she is no-nonsense and kind, but ultimately human. She is out of her depth in the superhero shenanigans but perfectly suited to handle any and all human things before and after. I love how she immediately clocks Atlanna as "strange and possibly dangerous" and so decides to strike up a conversation. It's lovely to see these two women bond over their sons even before they really know who each other is. Also Alfred cameos at the end which is always fun.

Fanwork Links: not far from the apples on AO3

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Deadloch: Horsehair by pint pot Judas

Fandom: Deadloch
Characters/Pairings: Eddie Redcliffe/Dulcie Collins
Rating: Teen
Length: 2518
Content Notes: Internalised homophobia, unreliable narrator, political correctness and Eddie aren't even in the same universe
Creator Links: pintpotjudas on AO3
Themes: Female relationships, Backstory, Ambiguous relationships

Summary: Just Eddie, musing on hair. And lesbians. And herself, a bit. (She's meant to be thinking about the case.)
Set in a lull (???) in episode five, or thereabouts.

Reccer's Notes: The detective partnership of Eddie and Dulcie is central to Deadloch, and it's "enemies to friends" in canon, but with a tantalising hint of maybe-polyamory at the very end of the show. In this story, Eddie thinks about lesbians in general (Deadloch's full of lesbians), her odd fascination with Dulcie's long, thick, hair, and remembers a female friendship from her teens. It's a believable character study where we understand a bit more about Eddie and see the beginnings of her attraction to Dulcie, even if Eddie's still mostly in denial. Interesting, and well written, with great characterisation and Eddie's usual hilarious and colourful turns of phrase.

Fanwork Links: Horsehair

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admin: theme reminder

Theme Reminder: Female Relationships

Photograph with added text: Female Relationships, at Fancake. Four old Nepalese women sit together on a low brick wall, their feet dangling, most of them barefoot, their shoes kicked off below them. They're dressed in loose patterned fabrics in various shades of red and the mood is relaxed.