stonepicnicking_okapi

Challenge #6

In your own space, share a favourite piece of original canon (a show, a specific TV episode, a storyline, a book or series, a scene from a movie, etc) and explain why you love it so much.

I don't have anything remarkable for this. Some quotes from the Sherlock Holmes stories which give us insight into his character and Watson's/ACD's lens in viewing him.

A very romantic description of Holmes from A Study in Scarlet.

In height he was rather over six feet, and so excessively lean that he seemed to be considerably taller. His eyes were sharp and piercing, save during those intervals of torpor to which I have alluded; and his thin, hawk-like nose gave his whole expression an air of alertness and decision. His chin, too, had the prominence and squareness which mark the man of determination. His hands were invariably blotted with ink and stained with chemicals, yet he was possessed of extraordinary delicacy of touch, as I frequently had occasion to observe when I watched him manipulating his fragile philosophical instruments.

( Read more... )

And here are some Bertie Wooster quotes.

From Carry on, Jeeves

She fitted into my biggest arm-chair as if it had been built round her by someone who knew they were wearing arm-chairs tight about the hips that season.

And from The Code of the Woosters:

“There are moments, Jeeves, when one asks oneself, 'Do trousers matter?'"

"The mood will pass, sir.”

And from The Old Guard, Joe's speech in the van:



That's all I got at the moment.

A kind reader, cookiemom6067 did a podfic of one of my The Old Guard fics and made this lovely cover art. A wonderful surprise.



the 5 times Nicky made food for his new neighbor & the 1 time Joe returned the favor, by okapi (podfic) (60 words) by cookiemom6067
Chapters: 6/6
Fandom: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Characters: Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Meet-Cute, Fluff, Food, Slow Burn, 5+1 Things, First Kiss, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Podfic, Podfic & Podficced Works, Podfic Length: 45-60 Minutes
Summary:

Nicky is horrified by his new neighbor's Ramen and Monster breakfast.

The Old Guard fandom did their own Kinktober prompts (called KinkTOGber) which I didn't learn about until too late, but there is a lot of nice porn coming out of it, and this is one that I liked.

is it enough yet? (i've had enough) (2695 words) by raedear
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Additional Tags: Anal Sex, Safeword Use, Aftercare, Hurt/Comfort, Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani and Nicky | Nicolò di Genova are in Love
Series: Part 4 of mess we made on fridays (gave me sundays on my knees)
Summary:

‘That’s it,’ he soothes, feeling Nicky’s heart beat hard under his hand. ‘My beautiful love, so perfect for me.’

‘Joe,’ breathes Nicky, reaching out to rest his fingertips on the corner of Joe’s mouth. His eyes are heavy with pleasure, his lips bitten pink and plump as he smiles down at Joe. ‘What would you like, my love?’

Joe and Nicky find some time together after a mission goes south.

Prompt four: aftercare
Prompt five: anal sex

Another WIP I've been reading wrapped up yesterday. Nice non-traditional Omegaverse.

(let go of) the same dream (44407 words) by liadan14
Chapters: 12/12
Fandom: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Characters: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani, Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, Andy | Andromache of Scythia, Quynh | Noriko, Booker | Sebastien le Livre, Nile Freeman, Steven Merrick (The Old Guard)
Additional Tags: Minor Booker | Sebastien le Livre/Nile Freeman, Minor Andy | Andromache of Scythia/Quynh | Noriko, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Demisexuality, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Mention of Regretted Past Sexual Encounters, Mentioned Racism, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Cuddling & Snuggling, Slow Burn, carpenter Nicky, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Masturbation, Sex Toys, Explicit Sexual Content, Snowed In
Summary:

“Okay, I’m going to need your contact information and I’ll have to ask a few questions about what it is you’ll be needing during your rut. Is that alright?”

“Yes, yes, of course,” Nicky says, aware that he’s panicking and it reads in his tone. “Before you accept my booking, you need to—“

“It will be just fine,” Joe says, smooth and professional. “Why don’t we start with your name?”

“That’s just it,” Nicky says miserably. “It’s Nicolò di Genova.”

There’s a long pause. “Oh,” Joe says.

He hasn’t hung up, which is what Nicky was expecting, so he uses the silence to start apologizing.

In which both Joe and Nicky struggle to fit into a world where your cycle determines so much about your romantic prospects when neither of them have typical cycles or even know if they want that kind of romantic relationship. In which Joe co-runs a center where people with atypical heat and rut cycles can come and receive the help they need. In which Nicky really wishes he hadn't written a series of very stupid letters to the editor of the local paper back when he was pretending he didn't need the kind of help Joe was offering.

Most of what I am reading right now is WIPs but this one just wrapped up. It is Joe/Nicky shibari AU, alternate first meeting. It has the kind of miscommunication/pining I like.

He's Touched Your Perfect Body With His Mind (31995 words) by BazinMousqueton
Chapters: 9/9
Fandom: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, Nicky | Nicolò di Genova/OMC (mentioned), Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/OMC (mentioned)
Characters: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani, Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, Andy | Andromache of Scythia, Booker | Sebastien le Livre, Booker | Sebastien le Livre's Children, Nile Freeman
Additional Tags: not so much enemies to lovers as dumbasses to hook-ups to he's all and he's more, fast sexual burn slow emotional burn, Mutual Pining, Miscommunication, Karaoke, Blow Jobs, Face-Fucking, Rimming, Hand Jobs, Anal Sex, Anal Fingering, Light Bondage, Rope Bondage, Shibari, Dirty Talk, Praise Kink, Competence Kink, Begging, Nipple Play, Fucking against the bookcases Nicky built, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Professor!Joe, Carpenter!Nicky
Summary:

Town versus gown romance set in Oxford. Featuring professor!Joe -- beautiful, clever and in reading glasses -- and carpenter!Nicky -- strong, sweaty and shirtless.

Nicky sang along to the van's radio, ignoring Andy's glare. The sun was shining, the van smelt of freshly cut timber, and he was looking forward to spending the week handcrafting bookcases. He'd recently heard a radio interview with the client, Joe Al-Kaysani, and admired his warmth and enthusiasm while picturing an ageing man in tweed and corduroy, with grizzled hair and laugh-lines. With any luck he'd be easy to be around, long past the need to prove his masculinity by interfering with Nicky's work and, pray God, the owner of a decent coffee machine.

Spoiler alert: Joe does not own a decent coffee machine. (Also, Nicky is about to discover how wrong his mental picture is...!)

Complete! Final chapter now posted, and title art added to chapter 1.

Three The Old Guard fic recs.

1. Having struggled a lot with my own 'brokenness,' I have a soft spot for fics that deal with overcoming sexual dysfunction through tender communication and acceptance.

Joe/Nicky. Explicit.

honey i’m lovedrunk (it’s what you do to me) (1887 words) by maddielle

( full AO3 link )

2. Superblackmarket never disappoints. Lots of literary references. Beautiful language. Anyone who includes Colonel Aureliano Buendia in a fic gets my immediate approval.

Joe/Nicky. Mature.

Tales of Burning Love (5830 words) by superblackmarket

( full AO3 link )

3. The TOG/Inception crossover that is inspiring my own.

Full TOG team & Arthur & Eames. Rating: Teen

Merrily, Merrily (3880 words) by FiaMac

( full AO3 link )

I finished my Unconventional Courtship fic on time. Wheee! And kingstoken made a lovely fic cover for it (as part of my winning bid of the No Raids Auction to benefit a Scottish organization that helps immigrants). The fic is actually more of a mystery/case fic but there is a lot of romance, too.

Title: My Brother's Virtuous Concubine
Fandom: The Old Guard
Pairing/Characters: Joe/Nicky
Rating: Mature
Length: 27, 975
Summary: Starving artist Yusuf stands to inherit his estranged half-brother's fortune, but the terms of the will--and the mystery around Jafar's death--may prove too much.
Notes: Inspired by the summary of The Virtuous Courtesan by Mary Brendan (2008). [Inherited: one mistress! Gavin Stone discovers on his brother's death that, to inherit his estate, he must also take on his mistress!...]

Title: The Battle Axe Quatern
Fandom: The Old Guard
Characters: Andy & Nile
Poetic Form: quatern
Length: 97
Rating: Gen

the handle of the battle axe
is wrapped in leather, though years tax,
the coiled strap wears, is shed, renewed
like supple skin, its texture shrewd

extension of the arm, like wax,
the handle of the battle axe
is shaped by grip which, over time,
has left its marks in battle grime

as treachery and greed unfold
falls into grasp unfit to hold
the handle of the battle axe
yet history does not relax

a newborn warrior seizes day
recovers arm and gains the fray
returns with honor, proud, not lax,
the handle of the battle axe

Title: Immortal Wives
Fandom: The Old Guard
Pairing: Andy/Quynh
Poetic Form: Sapphic ode
Rating: Gen
Length: 111

Jasmine blossoms sweetened the air with attar.
Smoky tendrils flavoured a moonlit pearl night.
Joy was ours, an iron understanding, love’s bar
forged by the firelight.

Memory consigned to worn sleep where no dread
lives. We fight and frolic in dream, desire rife.
‘Soldier lost’ a proxy for what can’t be said:
‘love of my lost life.’

Sandalwood reminds me of you, perfumed earth
where we fought and died and were born as new-selved.
Battle-coupled axe blade and sword gave new birth,
cleaving as love delved.

Sinking slowly, shouldering wrongs and what-ifs,
jasmine only whispers your name, a soft breath,
sandalwood is conquered by brine of steep cliffs,
plunging to un-death

Title: The sea between us
Poetic form: bref double [using Turco's rhyme scheme]
Fandom: The Old Guard
Pairing: Andy/Quynh
Rating: Gen
Length: 96
Notes: POV Andy. Angst. For the unfamiliar, Quynh's an immortal stuck in an Iron Maiden at the bottom of the ocean
For: Multifandom Poetry Fest 2021 prompt: 'Any, Any, the sea between us'

the sea between us cannot drown
the weight of the years without you
regret is a current, a tide,
that drags my every step away

from you, your living plot beneath
the vast sea, why can’t I sink down
the fathoms I fathom in sleep
to hold your hand, to stay and stay

until we both wake, side by side,
on the far shore of time and death,
where just fronds and fruits feel our blades
where grief’s the only thing we slay

O sea between us, watery gown,
rend, end, and me, to you, convey