ancientreader

"Cat Nap," by galwednesday, is up there among Funniest Things I Have Ever Read. A Stucky AU; I cannot do better in recommending it than to quote the summary in full:

Objectively, losing the Bucharest safehouse and its contents was the least of Bucky’s problems. The balding agent he’d seen directing the raid was apparently affiliated with SHIELD, which was a shadowy government agency that made representatives from other shadowy government agencies suddenly remember urgent appointments when Bucky tried to bribe, threaten, and otherwise shake them down for information on what the hell SHIELD might want with a former brainwashed assassin. Dodging SHIELD should be his number one priority.

Subjectively, he wanted his fucking cat back.

Needless to say, all's well that ends well, including the naming of cats.

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"Bring Me My Bow of Burning Gold" is set in the world of K.J. Charles's A Seditious Affair and does depend on knowledge of that book for its full effect; but, uh, that shouldn't be a hardship, because it's a terrific book. The burden of the fic: an exploration of Silas Mason's state of mind after his ... one must call it a rescue, since otherwise Silas would have gone to the gallows ... by his upper-class lover and the lover's friends. Silas is a politically radical bookseller and we find him deeply distressed by the compromise he has made because he wants to live and because he is deeply in love with his "Tory," Dominic Frey. It's so painful and so well done.

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Okay, how about some original fic? "dum spiro spero," by thedevilchicken, is ~problematic, in that it's set in ancient Rome, in the household of a wealthy man, and consequently there are enslaved people all over the joint, including the POV character, a badly injured gladiator who has just been bought by said wealthy man. Surprise surprise, they fall in love.

Now, my bookmark for this fic reads "Perfectly iddy and perfectly human(e) and, in a word, perfect," which is an assessment I will stand by -- there's a twist that undermines the opening premise -- but this is not the fic to go to for a critique of class differences or the politics of slavery either in ancient Rome or elsewhere/elsetime. Castor the injured gladiator is such an attractive character, though, and he navigates his situation in life thoughtfully and with a great capacity for joy, so if the context isn't a total Nope Badger, this is a thoroughly satisfying read.