The Marci Rating System

The Last In Line, by xiaq

“Are you ok?” she asks, voice cracked and carrying in the empty hallway. “I woke up this morning and my mom was just acting like everything was normal and I had to get to practice and I thought maybe it had all been some fucked up dream but even I’m not that creative.” She pushes away from him, tugging up the bottom of his shirt, “what about you? Are you––?”

He grabs her wrist, shaking his head. “No, I’m fine. I’m completely fine. I’m just…1983 me.”

Okay, I read this fic waaaaaaay back -- probably one of the first fics I ever read for Stranger Things. I had NO IDEA who any of these people were, but heck yeah, CAT! It makes so much more sense now! And also CAT!

for what you have tamed, by skoosiepants

Steve squints an eye at the large dun-colored tom sitting on the counter, finishing his tuna fish sandwich for him; too sleek, with a long, graceful tail, blue eyes and single fang peeking out on his wide face. He’s got an oversized gold medallion hanging from a thin, loose, and worn leather collar that says, Steve knows, WILLIAM, and also, on the back of it, I go wherever the fuck I want.

Because after S4, I think the choice to just check out and live in the woods for a while is 100% valid.

Accidentally like a werewolf, by skoosiepants

“I’m no conspiracy theorist,” Robin says, carefully taping gauze over his shoulder, “but, like, you were a fucking wolf, dude. I was a wolf. Or, uh, a particularly big husky?”

All of the amazing art and fic I received as gifts during Battleship Exchange 2024! I love them all!!!!!!!!!!!

魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù
*希望飞到你的身边 [ART] by xinger88
“如果我能飞去你我就离开自己世界入你的。”

*想象回到你的身边 [ART] by xinger88
“请相信我永远不想离开你。”

*花有重开日 [ART] by xinger88
生命在死后重新开始。

*Catastrophe of Color by starandrea
Wei Ying got his first dragon feather when he was very small: he remembers another boy handing it to him on the street in the dead of winter, when he was cold and hungry and couldn’t believe the happy feelings that came with it.

*The Mountain That Was Not a Mountain by donutsweeper
Yiling was a burgeoning city nestled at the base of a mountain that wasn't there.
And there were many stories about that.


Star Trek: Lower Decks
*星际猫咪 [ART] by xinger88
在行星中我们看到自己。

*Don't Goose Me, Bradward by galaxyofroses
“Can someone remind me what the deal is with this planet again?” Rutherford asks. “Specifically, the geese?”


Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
*Ships of Heaven [ART] by xinger88
天地勇敢地一起去没有人过去的地方。

*Podfic: 'laughing with a mouth of blood' by pilcrowtudinous by itscooltokoorero (pilcrowtudinous)
Pelia coughs again, dramatically, yanking a handkerchief from her pocket and covering her mouth. She goes to speak but coughs again, and this time, Christine sees a giant red stain on the hanky.


Stranger Things
*What Comes Next by plutonianshores
Steve has a migraine. Robin has a proposal.

My Battleship Exchange 2023 fics!

Stranger Things
*Lives that keep their secrets
Scoops Troop for life. (Future fic)

*Roll the Dice
Season 4 speed-run AU with magic and a giant fuck-off dragon.

Star Trek: Lower Decks
*Enceladus
A routine lockdown on the Cerritos.

*(dis)honesty is the best policy
Four ensigns, a shuttle, and a diplomatic ceremony. What could go wrong?

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
*A wing and a prayer
After an alien entity turns Spock and Sam into children, Jim is called in to help, and everyone talks about their feelings.

*Game Night
"Ortegas wants me to join Game Night."

*Tomorrow, Again
James was surprised to wake up at all. Everything else he could figure out as he went. (AU of the AU)

*Ship's Cat
Ancient Earth sailors believed having a cat on their ship brought good luck. Starships took that idea and ran with it.

good times at the edge of the world, by paxlux

“I’m charming,” Eddie insists, waving a hand to indicate himself and the guitar, “pure sexy bard status, gets 'em every time. I’ll ask nicely.”

“Yeah, okay, wow, this is gonna be a disaster,” Dustin says, eyebrows sky high, “just tell him how pretty he is and while he’s preening, hit him with the book.”

It's been a 'Stranger Things' kind of week, so that's what I've got on the fic rec front.

Rich From Tender Care, by glorious_spoon, S3anchaidh

“Are you just, like, constitutionally unflappable, or what?”

“I have no fucking idea what that means,” Steve says.

I've been reading a lot of Stranger Things fic recently, which has led to many humorous web searches like 'what is the range of a walkie talkie' (not very far) and 'is indiana flat' (pretty flat, yeah).

Since I've never watched the show, I remain particularly baffled by the setting -- a town small enough to bike around, that also has a mall and a skate park??? But I guess it also has a semi-secret government lab and portals to a different dimension? IDK, as a coastal resident, I remain suspicious that maybe the midwest is just Like That. (::quickly searches the internet to confirm that Indiana is in the midwest::)

And of course, the show is set in the 1980s, which means I have read so many fantastically inaccurate assumptions about how cassette tapes work, and I love them all.

But also it has made me feel incredibly grateful to have the internet at my fingertips, because I feel so bad for those kids, not being able to look things up instantaneously and privately! Do bats have rabies? They don't know! They're going to have to go to a library and look it up in a book!

(PS: I checked this, because I didn't have to go to a library, and yes, bats can carry rabies. According to the CDC, bats are the leading cause of rabies deaths in the United States. Don't get bitten by a bat!)

I laughed SO MUCH that I wanted to rec this immediately.

Dustin Henderson and the Lovebirds, by pukner

"...I have to ask," says Dustin, almost morbidly fascinated. Because Steve's brain is weird, but Robin's is worse , if only because she's louder about being weird. "Why are you also a worm in this scenario?"

"I kind of assumed that if Steve got turned into a worm, so would I," says Robin.