and it walked out of the light

Last Full Measure by @terribleoldwhitemen. Bruno/Vinick. 18k words. You must, you must, you MUST read this if you are a later-seasons fan. The vibrant strangeness of this pairing is justified a million times over by the ingenious plotting, writing, and execution. I could go on and on - read this!

far from things of man by elliesattlers. CJ/Toby/Sam. 2k words. This is an apocalypse AU and it is a marvel. Pensive, deeply insightful, unsettling, and amazing.

coming around again by sarapod. Sam/Josh. 9k words. I read a ton of samjosh when I was getting into tww fic and this is one of my favorite approaches to them: great characterization, fits neatly around canon, a pitch-perfect read.

there's a fog by Kalya_Lee. Sam & Senior Staff. 7k words. A poignant reflection on Sam's choice not to return to the White House after losing the 47th and his individual relationships with the main cast.

20 years in the dakota by sandyk. Jed/Abbey. 3k words. This is the ultimate Abbey fic: every JLA thing I've ever written was subconsciously influenced by reading this fic.

sturgeon by hell_to_breakfast. Ellie & Bartlet Family. 11k words. A truly fascinating Ellie Bartlet character study (through a queer lens, naturally).

Every love story is a ghost story. by miabicicletta. 3k words. Major character death! Alternate, tragic endings to canon events. If you're up for some emotional intensity, this is a sad but not graphicly upsetting story, and it is one filled with deep compassion.

like an apple tree among trees of the forest by @larsulrichburneracc. Jed/Leo. 5k words. Now we're at the part of the list where I rec things my friends have written. Yay! Once you read this, you will have a wealth of amazing works by Atlas to choose from. I'm picking this because it's a Priest!Jed AU with the requisite Yearning and a beautiful atmosphere.

pride and politics by @bartletslesbians. CJ/Andy. 4k words. Hardly possible to pick just one work by Tessa, but here's an incredible exploration of two incredible characters. You don't just get great writing with this fic, you get history and thought-provoking political questions.

the four horsemen by @muldxr. Toby & Family. 1k words. You said Toby-centric so here I send you to one of the foremost Toby scholars. Again, read this and then every other thing Laur has written.

god loves you (but not enough to save you) by @divorcedlizbartlet. Amy/Liz. 3k words. We Amy/Liz warriors are small but we are mighty. This is filled with delicious religious guilt, infidelity, and, like all Julie's stuff, a sharp lens on the Bartlet family dysfunction.

hard to be soft by @palukoo. Amy/Donna. 97k words. Here's a beast for you if you feel like tackling it: you will be rewarded with a deeply thoughtful take on Amy Gardner and what makes her tick.

Lastly, I will do a little self-promo. This is day after tomorrow, a 7k word apocalypse AU I wrote a while ago and still love deeply (CJ&Toby, Jed/Abbey, Sam/Josh/Donna).

A relatively messy study/fanart for project hail mary, the last month has really awakened my inner space loving child again

Let me explain:

Grotesque fascist grifter, Nigel Farage, is the leader of Reform, the racist far right party he created because UKIP got what it wanted (Brexit) and it sucked.

Having tried and failed to be an MP many times (but somehow getting more screentime than any Liberal Democrat or Green politician), he finally succeeded in the last election because people were so overwhelmingly pissed off with the Conservatives, and many right-wing people saw Reform as the new Conservative Party; partly because it's full of rejects from the Conservative Party.

Speculation: he doesn't really want to be an MP, he wants to be a fascist grifter. He's annoyed by suggestions he do things like Be In His Constituency and Serve His Constituents.

He's recently been caught having accepted a VERY large amount of money from some unsavory people that he insists was a totally legitimate 'donation' and not breaking any rules.

Only it did break the rules and it's very clear that it did and things are in motion to hold him to account.

To avoid this, he has resigned as an MP, saying this is a protest at his treatment by the 'establisment' (he is a rich fascist grifter, but he likes to cosplay as a Man of the People). This has triggered a by-election, in which he is standing, with the hope that the people of his constituency will either elect him in a resounding win, indicating they don't care that he's corrupt (having not heard everything the investigation is uncovering), or someone from Labour or the Conservatives will win and he can swan off to America, free to grift again because of what the 'establishment' did to him.

Only, all the major political parties have agreed not to stand, stating openly that this is an obvious stunt and they won't legitimise it. So if he doesn't win, he can't say it was because he was too much of a rebel and the Establishment went against him, he'll just be a loser, which doesn't play too well with the right-wingers he wants to grift. And if he does get back in the investigation will go forward without any kind of 'mandate' from his constituency buoying him up.

But. There is another option.

COUNT BINFACE IS RUNNING.

Count Binface is part of the grand British tradition of joke candidates who stand as a protest option. They usually don't get enough votes to get their deposit back (which is supposed to deter unserious people) but they don't care, because DEMOCRACY.

Of course, Count Binface has never won, but it is hilarious to see a completely serious pathetic fascist concede defeat while standing next to a man with a bin on his head to whom they are democratically equal.

But if nobody else is standing. And if enough people in Clacton-on-Sea are finally cheesed off enough with Farage not doing anything for them, there is just a chance that one of the funniest things to ever happen in politics will happen.

Imagine. Imagine for just a moment that the Grotesque Fascist not only loses, but loses to Count Binface.

Lady Prime Minister 👩‍💼💼 📉 vs. a Lettuce 🥬🥗🍃

Please enjoy the thrilling sequel:

Skeleton of a Scythian queen and her jewelry, found in the Chertomlyk barrow, near Nikopol, Katerynoslavsk Governorate (today Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukraine)

Headdress and ornaments of the clothes of the priestess Dimitra / Demeter, found in the tomb.