What films/books/tv shows/music etc are being released this year that you're really excited about? I mean, I'm probably not going to believe we have a Black Widow film until I'm actually sat in the cinema watching it, but Black Widow for films, also JoJo Rabbit, I kinda like the live action Mulan trailer, and I'm open to recs.

Books = Come Tumbling Down, the next book in the Wayward Children novella series by Seanan McGuire is out soon - I LOVE that series, and The Unwilling by Kelly Braffet comes highly recommended by Erin Morgenstern, the author of the Night Circus, so I'm keeping my eyes open for that. But really I need to tackle the shiny new books I bought in Nov & Dec I haven't read yet. (So very shiny. I am ecited.)

Music and tv shows, I await recs from other people. Also I am sloooow at tv, but I manage a few. At the moment: new Doctor Who and Chicago Fire 8 is coming the UK this week; naff but I like it ;)

Have you made any new year's resolutions or have any 2020 goals? I always set myself a reading goal, really to track what I actually read, try to read a wider variety, and to remind myself not just to read fanfic *grins*. For the last few years I've also set myself another goal I'm going to repeat: have a higher total word count on AO3 for this year than the year before. And I'm going to try to do 8 hours sleep a night.

What fics/fanvids/other creative works are you hoping to start, work on, or finish this year? I have a few WIPs that I'd like to get finished - especially a musician!Clint/bodyguard!Natasha one that wants to be long - and I'd like to write more demon!Natasha 'verse.

Can we have a short three-line quote or teaser?
I've probably posted this before, because it's been a WIP for a while *shifty eyes* but a musician/bodyguard snippet:

Natasha calls Barton six - count it: six - times and sends a text without reply as she waits in line at the closest coffee shop. It is, she decides, his own fault that her entrance through the fire escape into his apartment comes as a shock.

“The fuck?” He gapes at her, sweatpants riding low on his hips, bare chest sporting bruising and wrapped ribs, ridiculous bedhead, and a coffee pot clutched in one hand.

Pick a Marvel character - what would be their ideal New Year's Eve plan?
I feel Pepper Potts (pre-IW) would be the kind of person to spend the day reflecting on her past year, setting goals for the next year that she will SMASH, then glamming it up in the evening at some fancy event with fancy champagne, and ending it in PJs - still with champagne. Or something with olives.


Edited 2020-01-02 08:45 pm (UTC)

More demon!Natasha verse!! Yay! :)))

Also, for TV try the Expanse. Hubby and I are LOVING it, and it kept me from succumbing to loneliness in Ghana.

Yep, I know the direction of those stories, so just need to get them written :)

Thanks for the rec! I've heard good things about the Expanse; I'll have to add it to the list.

Oh, do! Some great multi-dimensional characters, fabulous politics... Hubby and I got hopelessly addicted. Mainlined the last 6 (SIX) episodes of Season 4 Sunday night in one go...

What films/books/tv shows/music etc are being released this year that you're really excited about?
BACK WIDOW MOVIE of course!!! But I'm also really excited for the final season of AOS (though I still need to get caught up on the last season) and the Disneyplus shows. I have mixed feelings about the Mulan movie (mostly about Disney making a movie catering to China and general Disney liveaction unease) but I'm still looking forward to seeing it. Birds of Prey and Wonder Woman 84 are also super exciting.
One of my favorite books, Orphan Monster Spy, is getting a sequel this year! I highly recommend Orphan Monster Spy to everyone here, it's about a jewish girl named Sarah who goes to spy in a nazi boarding school during WWII. I picked it up because the cover reminded me of Nat.

Have you made any new year's resolutions or have any 2020 goals?
sooooooo I'm hopefully moving states to pursue The Film Dream which is simultaneously exciting and terrifying. If anyone here is in Georgia/Atlanta area, hit me up please? lol

What fics/fanvids/other creative works are you hoping to start, work on, or finish this year?
Somehow my writing brain has come back and I have so many writing projects I want to make happen! Right now though I'm focused on finishing a National Treasure themed DND game I'll be playing with my friends this month! I'm also going to work on properly archiving all the 8tracks stuff I saved (I got all the clintasha playlists backed up but its a mess right now)

Can we have a short three-line quote or teaser?
(from the sequel to my fic "Good People")
The second Natasha’s out and his own door was shut, Steve dove his phone, so quickly he fumbled with it for a couple seconds.
To: Clint Barton
Call me as soon as you get this.
Non emergency. Something’s up with Nat.

Pick a Marvel character - what would be their ideal New Year's Eve plan?
I feel like all of them, minus Tony maybe, would prefer quieter New Years Eve's in. Tony probably throws a big party every year that they all have to show their faces at though.

Tony's parties are legend. Of course, now that he's off the sauce he only shows up for about 45 minutes, and then disappears through a secret door to have a nice quiet cuddle with Pepper, or maybe invent a new doombot.

aw that's a very sweet image.

oh my gosh, yes to Birds of Prey and WW1984!

they both look soooooooo good!

The WW84 trailer looks fun, and the poster very Thor Ragnarok in tone, heh. I've read Orphan Monster Spy, didn't know it was getting a sequel! I'm gonna rec to you How The Girl Guides Won The War which as some real life girl and teenage girl spies in WW2 :)

Good luck for moving states!

Yeah it's coming out this month I think? In the UK at least? I followed the author on twitter so that's how I know. Thanks for the rec! I'll add it to my (very long tbh) goodreads list.

What films/books/tv shows/music etc are being released this year that you're really excited about? Nothing has me really over the top excited, but in terms of movies I am looking forwards to The Eternals, Blade, the finally seasons of Sch*tt's Creek. And last but not least, Thor 4: More Thor.

Books are the final installment of Kendare Blakes 'Three Dark Queens' series, the new Hunger Games book (The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes), and anything else that catches my eye!

Music-wise maybe Lindsay Sterling will come out with a new album to surprise me!

Have you made any new year's resolutions or have any 2020 goals?

A few non-fandom goals I have are to spend more time reading and actually get through my TBR pile. As well as actually using the physical cookbooks I own a few times a week instead of just googling things/doing whatever.

Also I signed up for a 5k walk in March so I need to train for that. (I know I can walk it, I just want to do it in a decent amount of time)

What fics/fanvids/other creative works are you hoping to start, work on, or finish this year?

I want to finish a Mass Effect long fic I started posting over a year ago-so to increase posting from once a month to twice or more a month. And finish up a bunch of short Mass Effect fics that I've been planning/have somewhat started.

and ofc the stuff we do on here! ^-^

Can we have a short three-line quote or teaser?

here's a bit from a chapter I'm currently editing.

Before he could react she slammed her boot on his foot while elbowing him in the solar plexus. He let out a grunt and jerked down while she took a step back and turned to face him. Grabbing his hand Anna twisted it back, forcing him to move with it or dislocate his shoulder. The knife fell to a clatter onto the grating and Anna reached for his pistol. Pulling it out she placed it against his neck, “I really don’t like people trying to blame me for things I didn’t do.”

Pick a Marvel character - what would be their ideal New Year's Eve plan?

Uh...Fraction!Hawkeye would spend it with Lucky, Kate or maybe Natasha watching a Dog Cops marathon with Chinese takeout and beer.


Edited 2020-01-04 09:34 pm (UTC)

Addendum: Birds of Prey and Wonder Woman 1984 have me low key excited!

Haven't heard of Birds of Prey, and having looked it up, I think I'll probably give it a miss. But I'm all here for WonderWomen 1984!

Birds of Prey is the Harley Quinn standalone movie, which I'm interested to see because Harley minus the Joker has always been interesting to me. And it's a giant flick off to the Suicide Squad portrayal of her.

Thanks! I had figured that out after looking it up. Didn't watch Suicide Squad based on trailers, reviews and general impressions, and thus not really interested in fixes for its characters either ... Guess with the exception of Wonder Woman, I'm just really not into DC anything - I just don't see the appeal. (I'm one of five people on the planet you couldn't pay enough to go and see the latest Joker movie.) Question of personal preference, I guess! :P

totally understand. And I was another one of the five people who had no desire to see the joker movie either so I feel that.

Thor 4: More Thor - I LIKE this title :D

Oh yeah, new Hunger Games book this year! I really, really hope we get Mags. I think that's when it's set *fingers crossed*

Dog Cops marathon sounds like a good New Year's Eve to me.

I forgot about the HG book until I was looking at a list and then was like "oh yeah!" I think she said there was a possibility that we'd get Mags, I feel like we'll definitely get a young President Snow.

What films/books/tv shows/music etc are being released this year that you're really excited about? BLACK WIDOW of course!!! I will be there with bells on opening night - and adding to the excitement, due to possible RL developments, may be adding a new location to the ones where I've seen new Marvel movies (the most exotic one so far being Curaçao...). As for TV shows we still have five episodes of Season 4 of The Expanse to go through, and I have a little stack of Christmas books that I can't wait to get through! :D

Have you made any New Year's resolutions or have any 2020 goals? A big one: Start writing my non-fanfic novel! Also, get a new knee. I may do the former while recuperating from the latter (joint replacements have historically had a positive impact on my writing. :P)

What fics/fanvids/other creative works are you hoping to start, work on, or finish this year?

See above!

Can we have a short three-line quote or teaser? Not yet, because I haven't started writing That Novel yet. But here's one for my catch-up-with-Halloween-commitments fic:

“Go on in then, Mr. Barton.” There’s something in the woman's eyes though – a slightly evil glint that rings a faint alarm bell, but the thought of a soft leather chair for his butt and a nice desk for his feet is too tempting. Clint limps towards the office door without further invitation. “Careful though,” she adds. “Director Fury’s cat has a bit of a temper and she hasn’t been fed yet this morning.”

Pick a Marvel character - what would be their ideal New Year's Eve plan?

Natasha makes everyone go for a skate in Bryant Park.

It's well after midnight, when everybody else is streaming past the park after the ball drop in Times Square, and the park is officially closed - but who's going to deny the Saviours Of Manhattan? Certainly not the lone security guard, especially when he doesn't even have to open any doors for them so is technically not doing anything that could get him fired. Tony and Thor just fly her, Clint and Pepper over the fence, while Steve vaults across it on his own steam. Bruce stays outside to watch, citing fears of wrecking the ice in case the Big Guy come out when he lands on his butt ("I don't want to wreck midtown again") but Natasha suspects he's just being a coward.

Steve takes a serious hit to his dignity when he can't stick the landing and ends up sliding into the barrier on the other side. Still, he grins broadly when he laces up his skates. His face shines, and for a moment Natasha sees the former Brooklyn kid, finally getting to do a New York thing in Manhattan - and this time, it won't cost his Mom a penny.

Tony presses some button on his suit and, feet ablaze, hovers over the ice in a criss-cross pattern, melting the top layer and smoothing out all the day's ruts and gouges. "Better than a Zamboni," he declares, even as everyone rolls their eyes because it's pretty damn obvious that he just doesn't want them to see that there is something Tony Stark doesn't do better than anyone else. Pepper teases him mercilessly, gliding across the ice behind him, as efficiently and as elegantly as she does everything else.

Thor, of course, announces to anyone who is listening - which is pretty much limited to the security guard and a wistfully watching Bruce - that he is a Northern God and as such Born To The Ice and Snow, and takes off across the ice at speed with his cape flapping behind him. Of course, even Northern Gods are bound by the laws of momentum, and he would have ended up crashing into the barricade beside Steve had he not been able to grab Mjolnir and fly up into the Manhattan sky at the last moment. He whoops loudly and comes back, repeating the performance as if it's what he had intended all along. Maybe it was?

Natasha herself loves skating; it's close enough to the essence of ballet, but without the nasty associations and memory triggers. She glides and twirls, even jumps once or twice, barely suppressing a gleeful laugh when she manages to stay upright at the end. The sound of the blades on the ice, the whoosh of the crisp night air and the laughter of her team mates - if there's a better way to start the New Year, she can't think of it.

Clint, to everyone's surprise but her own, is rather good on the ice, having done some pond skating in Iowa as a kid, with blades improvised with bits from the Waverley scrapyard, and added the natural balance of the trained acrobat. Before long, the two of them circle the entirety of the rink with long, graceful strides, occasionally stopping for a pirouette and - once - a daring throw that has her soaring over the ice and ends with Steve catching her. (Probably just as well, since the only Lutz she ever truly mastered was an ex-Stasi operative trying to recreate the communist paradise in Albania, but that is a story for another day.)

They all return to the Tower with bright-red cheeks, ready for a Scotch or a hot bath, depending on personal preferences - in Clint's case both, as it turns out.

"Make it a double," he says to Natasha. And, just to end a perfect evening on a perfect note, he adds, "The bath, I mean."



Edited 2020-01-04 09:38 pm (UTC)

Oh, that Avengers NYE gives me all the feels. I love the last scene. Perfect! All the best in 2020!

Thank you!! You too!! Have a *healthy* 2020!

Non-fanfic novel, exciting! All ears for when you're ready to let us know more about that. I have no idea how you manage to write so much while drugged and recovering from surgery, but yay for new knee, Bionic Woman, and cheering you on.

Ooo, is the cat in your sneak peak Goose by any chance...? *grins*

Aww, thank you for the New Year's Eve fic. Warm fuzzies <3

oops, i'm late!!

What films/books/tv shows/music etc are being released this year that you're really excited about?
films: Black Widow, obviously. Also extremely excited about WW 1984!! I live outside DC and drive past the mall where they filmed every time I visit my sister. (recognizing shooting locations is the best!!)

tv: I'm so behind!! We need to catch up on Killing Eve and the Good Place, and watch the Mandalorian and also the Expanse. New stuff: allegedly, Falcon and Winter Solider and Wandavision are out this fall?! So I'm looking forward to that!

books: ugh, I don't know. I have a goal of reading 50 books on Goodreads, but not sure yet what those will be. I want to read Erin Morgenstern's new one, some Courtney Milan after that RWA controversy, and I don't know what else?!


Have you made any new year's resolutions or have any 2020 goals?
my husband and I are doing the reddit 52 weeks of baking challenge, which is hopefully going to teach me a lot of new things and also is going to wreck my kitchen, probably.

What fics/fanvids/other creative works are you hoping to start, work on, or finish this year?
(I'm going to write this damn boat story if it kills me)
I didn't write that much last year, sadly, so I want to at the very least write more than I did in 2019. Hoping to write a sequel to my Steve/Scott, an AU of the iconic 2009 romcom The Proposal that will function as a sequel to my Natasha-as-Tony short, and to finish my right to the good parts series. Plus prompt a thons! (This is, I already know, way too optimistic a list.)

Can we have a short three-line quote or teaser?

“No offense,” says the guy with a knife to her throat, “But you’ve looked better.”

“Oh,” says Natasha, coy as a flirt on a summer day, no matter the fact that they’re in the middle of a February snow storm, messy prints on a Karlstad roof. “And when would that have been?”

“Strasbourg,” he say cheerfully, either oblivious or indifferent to the way her heart shakes hard against its cage. Strasbourg had been six months ago, but she hadn’t caught him on her trail until Gdańsk three months later. “You were wearing this red dress, really floaty; honestly, just beautiful.” He pauses. “What kind of fabric is that?”

“Chiffon,” Natasha spits. How humiliating that she’s about to be murdered, after all this time, by the biggest idiot on earth.


Pick a Marvel character - what would be their ideal New Year's Eve plan?
It's a vicious cycle, honestly. It begins when Maria and Natasha insist that New Year's Eve is going to be ladies night! They dress to kill, convince or coerce every woman they know into going with them, and hit as many bars as they can. Problematically, this leads to hangovers, and hangovers lead to Natasha hypothesizing that next New Year's it'd be safer to just go to Tony's party, and Maria mournfully agreeing into the toilet's porcelain bowl, and Pepper requesting that they stop shouting. The following New Year's Eve, they go to Tony's party, chat politely and drink moderately, and decide it's boring. Next year, they're getting a group together and going out again! They're older now, more mature. This time, they'll definitely make sure nobody wakes up hungover...

Never too late! Love the Chiffon story snippet. So glad I have you on subscribe so I won't miss it when it's done ! :)