mithen

Title: Clarity of Vision, Chapter 11
Relationship: Thorin/Bilbo
Characters: Bilbo Baggins, Fíli, Kíli, Thorin, Dwalin, Balin
Fandom: Hobbit
Warnings/Spoilers: None
Rating: G
Word Count: 2400
Story Summary: In a Middle-Earth where Erebor never fell, a shadow remains in the heart of the Lonely Mountain. Bilbo Baggins finds himself drawn reluctantly into a quest that will lead him across the continent--from Bree to Lake Evendim to the icy North and beyond--with a party of five dwarves searching for an artifact that will cure the ailing King Thrór.
Chapter Summary: While exploring the elvish ruins of Himring, Bilbo finds something interesting.

( Bilbo was going through a cabinet filled with tangled necklaces of every color and shape. Himring was full of rooms heaped high with treasure--armor and weapons, jewels and cups and cunning boxes. )

Title: Clarity of Vision, Chapter 10
Relationship: Thorin/Bilbo
Characters: Bilbo Baggins, Fíli, Kíli, Thorin, Dwalin, Balin
Fandom: Hobbit
Warnings/Spoilers: None
Rating: G
Word Count: 1900
Story Summary: In a Middle-Earth where Erebor never fell, a shadow remains in the heart of the Lonely Mountain. Bilbo Baggins finds himself drawn reluctantly into a quest that will lead him across the continent--from Bree to Lake Evendim to the icy North and beyond--with a party of five dwarves searching for an artifact that will cure the ailing King Thrór.
Chapter Summary: Thorin's party rents a boat, and five dwarves and a hobbit set out to sea in search of a fabled elvish fortress.

( Even broken and worn by time, the very lines of the ruins were different from either Fornost or Annúminas, with a strange grace that haunted the eye. )

The WWE (which is the DCW in Heroes) is the undisputed top of the wrestling food chain (ever since Vince McMahon systematically destroyed any competition through the 80s and 90s...but Mr. McMahon deserves his own post). "The indies" are the lower-budget wrestling promotions that largely at this point serve as the minor leagues for the WWE, but have their own fiercely loyal breed of fans.

Working in the indies obviously is no way to get rich: wrestlers often make their own t-shirts (as Riddler does to promote himself) and almost everyone has to carpool together to get from venue to venue. Wrestling autobiographies often have as a theme the difficulty of finding a kindred spirit to carpool with--long hours on the road combined with soul-crushing tedium of bland hotel rooms have encouraged many a wrestler to pick up unhealthy lifestyles.

I based a lot of the road trips (with Clark-Booster-Beetle or with Clark-Bruce-Guy-Eddie) on a fantastic little documentary called Road Wrestling Diaries. RWD follows three indie wrestlers as they travel from place to place--as it turns out, this is one wrestler's (Brian Danielson) last hurrah in the indie circuit--he's just signed a contract with the WWE and will be moving on to (at least at the moment) a decent amount of success there. Another wrestler in the group, Colt Cabana, just did a brief stint with the WWE, but it didn't work out and he's back down in the indies. So there's a fair amount of understated tension between the two very good friends. What's great about the documentary is it shows everyday life on the road--scrounging cheap hotels or finding friends to crash with, trying to keep yourself entertained with a minimum of chemicals, getting lost on the road. The detail about reading jokes off bubblegum wrappers is from this documentary, for example. To be honest, I found it fascinating not so much for the look at wrestlers hanging out, but the way young guys hang out in general.

It also features Brian Danielson rolling over in the morning after sleeping on a friend's floor and mumbling to everyone in the room, "Everyone gets boners in their sleep," which made me love it forever.

You can see a couple of trailers for it here:

( Road Wrestling Diaries )

And while I'm on the topic of Bryan Danielson and his immense dorktacular awesomeness, let me take a moment to discuss the work the WWE does with the Make a Wish Foundation. WWE does a LOT of volunteer work with MaW (John Cena, one of their top wrestlers, is currently their most busy celebrity--he has done over 300 different MaW appearances), and seeing the wrestlers with ill children is, well, heart-melting. Some of them strike up long-term friendships (Mick Foley, who will get more meta of his own later) mentions his MaW friends often in his autobiographies.

So below the cut is a good example: Bryan Danielson (who is now Daniel Bryan, long story) visiting a kid who requested to meet him for MaW. The kid is a huge wrestling fan and has his own ring name of Stonecrusher.

OK, one more thing you need to know before seeing the video: Daniel Bryan has a tag team partner called Kane, whose gimmick is that he's...well, you can watch his intro here to get the basic idea of him:

( Kane, Team Hell No, and Adorableness )

Right, this somehow became "Mithen has a crush on Daniel Bryan," for which I cannot truly apologize. *grin*

Title: and yes I said yes I will Yes
Fandom: BBC Sherlock
Pairing/Characters: John/Sherlock
Warnings/Spoilers: None
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1700
Summary: Sherlock has deduced that John is going to propose to him, and he's ready to accept. If only John would actually get around to it...
Note: For a prompt on the Sherlock Kink Meme.

( John was going to propose to him, he was certain of that. The small cut on the back of his hand, the smudge of mustard on his collar three days ago, the absence of jam at breakfast yesterday: it all pointed unerringly toward a marriage proposal. )

Title: Clarity of Vision, Chapter 9
Relationship: Thorin/Bilbo
Characters: Bilbo Baggins, Fíli, Kíli, Thorin, Dwalin, Balin
Fandom: Hobbit
Warnings/Spoilers: None
Rating: PG for a bit of language.
Word Count: 3000
Story Summary: In a Middle-Earth where Erebor never fell, a shadow remains in the heart of the Lonely Mountain. Bilbo Baggins finds himself drawn reluctantly into a quest that will lead him across the continent--from Bree to Lake Evendim to the icy North and beyond--with a party of five dwarves searching for an artifact that will cure the ailing King Thrór.
Chapter Summary: Thorin's company travels north along the coast toward Himring: in which there are language lessons, cold weather, and the first sight of the sea.

( Thorin sat at the campfire, looking out at the sea as his party relaxed. Balin and Dwalin were smoking and swapping stories about their youth; Fíli was practicing his fiddle; Kíli was waxing his bow strings and complaining about the damp salt air for the hundredth time. Bilbo was using a pocketknife to pry open some mottled, purple-shelled things he had found--mussels, that was what he had called them. The tip of his tongue was sticking very slightly out of his mouth as he concentrated. )

Title: You Sold Out
Relationship: Clark/Bruce
Characters: Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, Guy Gardner, Lex Luthor, Harvey Dent
Continuity: Heroes of the Squared Circle, a DC/pro wrestling fusion (click for notes and all chapters).
Warnings/Spoilers: None
Rating: PG
Word Count 2900
Summary: Word starts to get out about the JLI buyout, and the fans aren't happy.

( The audience was electric for the rest of the evening, torn between jeering smarks and mystified marks, both of them screaming at the top of their lungs. )

Title: Invasion
Relationship: Clark/Bruce
Characters: Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, Guy Gardner, Lex Luthor, Booster Gold, Ted Kord, Harvey Dent, Selina Kyle
Continuity: Heroes of the Squared Circle, a DC/pro wrestling fusion (click for notes and all chapters).
Warnings/Spoilers: None
Rating: PG
Word Count 2300
Summary: Lex Luthor explains what the employees of his newest acquisition can expect, and the JLI wrestlers wait to see who will get contracts for the DCW.

( I have agreed, out of the kindness of my heart, to help Mr. Lord with certain debts that he has incurred, in return for the JLI becoming, shall we say, a partner--well, junior partner, that is--with the DCW. )

Title: What is Already Yours (3/3)
Fandom: BBC Sherlock
Pairing/Characters: John/Sherlock
Warnings/Spoilers: Consensual BDSM
Rating: R
Word Count: 2100
Summary: Celebrating the completion of John's list, Sherlock comes up with a few improvisations and surprises, and John doesn't mind at all.
Note: Written for the Sherlock Kink Meme prompt asking for a BDSM relationship with Sherlock as the Dom with lots of slow trust-building and aftercare.

( John felt himself going limp in his bonds, trusting Sherlock's sure hands, and that rush of trust was the most blissful narcotic he had ever imagined. )

Title: A Visit from a Stranger
Fandom: Tolkien (a little Hobbit, a little Lord of the Rings, a little Silmarillion)
Pairing/Characters: Bilbo Baggins, Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee, Eönwë
Warnings/Spoilers: None
Rating: G
Word Count: 1300
Summary: A stranger stops by to have tea with Bilbo, Frodo and Sam in Avallónë.
Note: A little story for starsandsea on her birthday! I'm so happy to be celebrating another year in fandom and in friendship with you. *hugs*

( I'm just a hobbit who loves food and song and the company of friends. )

Title: Clarity of Vision, Chapter 6
Relationship: Thorin/Bilbo
Characters: Bilbo Baggins, Fíli, Kíli, Thorin, Dwalin, Balin
Fandom: Hobbit
Warnings/Spoilers: None
Rating: G
Word Count: 2400
Story Summary: In a Middle-Earth where Erebor never fell, a shadow remains in the heart of the Lonely Mountain. Bilbo Baggins finds himself drawn reluctantly into a quest that will lead him across the continent--from Bree to Lake Evendim to the icy North and beyond--with a party of five dwarves searching for an artifact that will cure the ailing King Thrór.
Chapter Summary: Thorin finds a slim lead, and the party must fight their way out of Fornost.

( Do try to keep up. It would be a shame if we had to abandon you to the undead hordes. )