fancake | Entries tagged with theme: magic

Fandom: Night at the Museum
Pairings/Characters: Jedediah/Octavius
Rating: T
Length: 15,551
Creator Links:

flowerdeluce
Theme: Amnesty, (Five) Things, Essential Starter Recs, Friends to Lovers, Heists & Capers, Just Plain Fun, Magic, Research, Slow Burn, Uncommon Settings, Working Together, Worldbuilding

Summary: After discovering how lucrative ‘publicity stunts’ are for the museum, McPhee organises a series of art exhibitions in the museum’s gallery. The installations are refreshed weekly, leaving Jed and Octavius only brief windows of time to explore each one.

Reccer's Notes: An absolutely gorgeous fic which integrates real-world museum exhibits; they all sounded so unique and fascinating it made me want to visit my own local museum, too!! The slow build up of the boys' relationship is also just delightful as they explore these new worlds and the many other ways the museum's magic animates each unique exhibit.

Fanwork Links: On Every Horizon

22degreehalo

Fandom: The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System
Pairings/Characters: Luo Binghe/Shen Qingqiu
Rating: T
Length: 4,491
Creator Links:

boomchick
Theme: Amnesty, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, Magic, Mythical Creatures: Demons, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Spells & Curses, Trauma and Recovery

Summary: Luo Binghe's healing powers falter in the shape of the wounds Xiu Ya once gave him. He does the only logical thing--HIDES IT.
Shen Qingqiu knows something is wrong with his husband, but finding out what is going to hurt...

A sweet little post-canon fic about healing, plotted with and illustrated by the incredible Falcities for the SVSSS Gotcha for Gaza

Reccer's Notes: This is such a sweet, thoughtful fic! Binghe always tries so hard to be strong, and never really quite escapes the trauma reaction that he doesn't deserve help or that suffering is just something to be endured. In this post-canon fic, his husband gets the opportunity to tell him otherwise and show him just how much he loves all parts of him, including the demonic parts!

It also has quite possibly my favourite (and very appropriate to the themes!) no beta tag ever: No beta but we live regardless

Fanwork Links: blood, leave no stain

full_metal_ox

Fandom: Nail Polish (Industry) (the AO3 tag, probably worded to disambiguate from at least two bands by that name. I’m calling it Nail Polish Blogosphere, since the characters are using and reviewing rather than manufacturing the nail polish.)
Pairings/Characters: Gen; OCs
Rating: General Audiences
Length: Only Once: 449; Only Once Remix: 1,960
Content Notes: modern in-universe folklore, nail polish connoisseurship, possible unreality, the sad beauty of transience
Creator Links: (AO3)

Sineala; (Dreamwidth)

sineala; (Tumblr)

sineala; (AO3)

woodpusher
Theme: Uncommon Settings, Folklore & Fairytales, Friendship, Magic, Social Media
Summary:

Sineala: The story of the most beautiful nail polish in the world.

woodpusher: Like a good manicurist, this story fills in some plot holes and smooths some rough edges from Only Once.

I was trying to boost my readership so welcome to the newly gifted.

Comments are welcome!

Author’s Notes: ( Cut_for_length. )

Reccer's Notes: ( Cut_for_length. )

Fanwork Links:
Only Once, by

Sineala for

Lysimache; Yuletide Madness 2011
Only Once Remix, by

woodpusher for

Sineala,

Meltha,

kuramas30,

Viridian5,

Qem, and

Lysimache.

garryowen

Fandom: Star Trek Reboot/AOS
Pairings/Characters: Kirk/Spock
Rating: Teen
Length: 10,103
Creator Links:

magneticwave
Theme: Marriage of convenience

Summary: What kind of an idiot would try to explain magic to a Vulcan.

Reccer's Notes: I wouldn't be a good Trek fan if I didn't rec a bonding story for this theme! (I'm going ahead and equating a Vulcan bond with marriage.) Punk actually recced this story six years ago for the magic theme, but it is FANTASTIC for this theme, as well.

As Punk wrote, this is not a Trek/Harry Potter crossover. Rather, facets of the HP universe (magic, legilimency, occlumency) are imported into Trekverse, where Jim comes from a wizarding family. The mental aspects of wizarding are a perfect fit with Vulcan telepathy and bonding. This fic makes excellent use of the commonality.

Much of Trek canon is exactly the same: Jim meets Old Spock in the way he does in canon, but, in this story, a spontaneous bond forms between them. When Old Spock dies (at what seems to be the same time he does in canon), Jim's mind is nearly destroyed by the loss of the bond. He uses his wizarding mind powers to heal the wound somewhat, but he's in danger of dying from the trauma. The logical action to save his life is to have Young Spock bond with him.

What makes this story shine is the writing and characterization. Jim is mouthy, emotionally stunted, in denial, afraid of intimacy, yadda yadda. Spock is repressed, has a huge chip on his shoulder, and is filled with rage and jealousy. It is delicious and vivid and charming. I'm making it sound like this story is all cheek and levity, but it's also emotionally resonant with glimpses of Jim's grief and the depth of his friendship with both Spocks. A+ on so many levels.

Fanwork Links: you will see what it is to be overcome

mific

Fandom: original work
Characters/Pairings: powerful mage/warrior bonded to her
Rating: G
Length: n/a
Creator Links: creators have been revealed but the artist chose to make the work anon.
Themes: Female relationships, Femslash, Female characters, Characters of color, Magic

Summary: none provided

Reccer's Notes: Another gorgeous work from the recent Everything is Femslash exchange. It's in a fantasy setting, featuring a mage and her warrior. I love the warm earthy colours, and how, the mage being a little shorter, their faces and bodies fit together perfectly, and the way they're linked by the swirl of the magical bond. Beautiful. (Note that the post is locked to AO3.)

Fanwork Links: Always with you

goddess47

Fandoms: Harry Potter, 9-1-1
Pairings/Characters: Christopher Diaz, Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter, Minerva McGonagall
Rating: PG
Length: 15,587
Creator Links: Hoolyandvice AO3 profile
Theme: magic, crossover

Content Notes:

Some ablism

Summary:

"Permission to speak freely?"

"Granted."

"With all due respect, sir, you can't be serious about this."

The general tilts his head to the side, his lips quirking up in a smile. "I know you're a bit of a sceptic, Lieutenant Diaz, but even you can't deny what Professor Flitwick has shown us."

"I can't explain it yet, but that doesn't mean it can't be explained by something other than— than magic."

aka the christopher diaz befriends draco malfoy fic i've been working on for the last few months

Reccer's Notes:

This story was written at my request as part of Fandom Trumps Hate. Hollyandvise had both 9-1-1 and Harry Potter listed as the fandoms they would write in and I asked about mashing them together because I adore the idea of Christopher Diaz having magic.

Hollyandvice took that challenge and ran with it and this is a winner! It's an 'Eighth Year' Harry Potter story, with Draco, Harry and the gang back at Hogwarts after the war. At the same time, Christopher is a first year, struggling to learn magic while dealing with his CP. What it ends up being is a heart-warming story about acceptance, learning to give and accept help, and growing up.

Fanwork Links: Coexistence

floatingcastle

Fandom: Homestuck
Pairings/Characters: Dirk Strider/Jake English
Rating: Explicit
Length: 124k words
Content Notes: Optional Gore, Optional Body Horror, Sleep Paralysis, Religious Imagery & Symbolism, It Gets Weird
Creator Links: oxfordRoulette
Theme: Epic Works, No Canon Required, Unconventional Format & Style, Complete AU: Supernatural, Old Fandoms, Happy Endings, Magic

Summary: Dirk summons a demon for the exclusive purpose of 'cathartic boning.' He gets what he wants.

NOTE: This fic is ergodic (think House of Leaves), which means it cannot be downloaded for offline perusal on your kindle/pdf reader. Also has CYOA elements, so clicking “Entire Work” will make the fic impossible to read.

Reccer's Notes: It's a damn shame there's no recent recs for Homestuck! I must fix this!
I come back to this fic occasionally to marvel at the amazing things someone can do on AO3 with coding knowledge, because wow. The visual presentation of the text is a definitive part of the experience, elevating the dream-like nature of the supernatural powers on display with parallel blocks of text, swirling text as Jake the not-incubus writes magic into Dirk's body, and the occasional set of interactive choices embedded in the text. It's also really fucking funny, with rambling paragraphs of humor in the same cadence as Homestuck's original prose, but without being dated. I wish there was more Choose-Your-Own-Adventure horror erotica in the world. The characterization unfolds slowly, incrementally, exponentially until you're staring at the face of horror and you want to give Dirk Strider a hug. Just incredible.

Fanwork Links: BONES OF BLACK MARROW

full_metal_ox

Fandom: Legend of Zelda
Pairings/Characters: Gen; Zelda, Link, King Rhoam of Hyrule, Ganondorf
Rating: General Audiences
Length: 398
Content Notes: No Archive Warnings Apply
Creator Links:

Fuzzi_Fox (host.)
Theme: Magic, Gen, Spells & Curses, Strategy, Teams

Summary: My 5-year-old daughter's first fanfictions as she dictated it to me. She asked me to help her write the story and write down what she said. Like mother like daughter!

Chapter 2 now added since she made a new story.

Author’s Notes: My daughter told me she wanted me to write down her story. I figured I'd share it here because why not. So yes, this was quite literally written by a five year old. I just added punctuation. I found it adorable.

Reccer's Notes: I’ll admit that I don’t even go here (my knowledge of the Nintendo mythoi comes largely by osmosis), but I was delighted by Fuzzi_Fox’s readiness to support her daughter in a shared interest, and by Fuzzi_kit’s creative use of gaming strategy in having Team Hyrule exploit Ganondorf’s curse to their own advantage. (And teamwork, imagination, and the conviction that bad guys can be beaten are always messages worth encouraging.)

Fanwork Links: Evil mummy, by Fuzzi_kit via

Fuzzi_Fox.

full_metal_ox

Fandom: MCU, Pop Culture Magic
Pairings/Characters: Gen; Steve Rogers|Captain America, Reader
Rating: General Audiences
Length: 417 (+10 in a GIF)
Creator Links:

chaosundone
Theme: Amnesty, Magic, Non-Fic Rec: Crafts (including a certain value of “Craft”.)

Summary: This quote from Steve Rogers is said before he becomes Captain America but it’s a belief that stays with him always. It’s the foundation of how he handles evil men and the battles he fights. He does not want to kill, he just wants to stop bullies, no matter who they are and where they come from. That’s why for this spell, I decided that making the shield of Captain America would be fitting. This shield is used to protect, defend, and disarm. It is not a weapon to kill with, it’s for defensive actions and non-lethal offensive actions. It is perfect for our purposes.

Reccer's Notes: These instructions for making and dedicating a cardboard replica of Captain America’s shield as a protective talisman against bullies are an example of Pop Culture Magic (1), here using the character as a symbol of righteous defense. The creator went through a couple name shifts during the mid-2010s, when I was following them; the most recent I know of is

chaosundone, whose last update was in 2020.

(1) Another might be the “like to charge/reblog to cast” trope on Tumblr for expressing the desire for a particular thing to happen.

Fanwork Links: “I Don’t Like Bullies”: A Captain America Spell Against Bullies, by

chaosundone.

Current Music: “When Captain America Throws His Mighty Shield”.

full_metal_ox

Fandom: Mo Dao Zu Shi
Pairings/Characters: M/M; Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian; Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji, Lan Sizhui, Lan Jingyi, four younger OC Lan disciples, OC townspeople
Rating: Explicit
Length: 48,622
Content Notes: blood, suicide (not of canon characters), annihilation of souls (not of canon characters), age difference, masturbation, nudity, semi-public sex, targeted property destruction, acceptance of mortality
Creator Links:

vulnerable_bead
Theme: Magic, Casefic, Mentorship, Communication (and failures thereof), Established Relationship, Smut

Summary: A report of a minor but inexplicable misfortune brings Wei Wuxian and a troop of six young Lans to a small town. Yet while an outing with their favourite teacher is as enjoyable as always, the juniors are disappointed with the results of their investigation; nothing out of the ordinary seems to be happening. That is, until the arrival of their other favourite teacher. Wei Wuxian is rather happy to see him, too. He missed him.

Creator’s Notes:
For joolita.

Translation into Русский available: The envy of the world by rootofallevil.

This is a story of two cultivators being in love, thinly disguised as a story of a case investigation. My Significant Otter, joolita, to whom this fic is dedicated, has described it as ‘an ocean of cheese at the foot of a mountain of fluff’. You have been warned.

Reccer's Notes: This one’s got everything: Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji as teachers to Lan Sizhui, Lan Jingyi, and four younger Lan junior OCs; dialogue by turns hilarious, stately, and poignant; poetic fairytale prose perhaps colored by the author’s native Polish; a casefic of unfurling complexity with an intelligent, subtle, and tragic antagonist; Wei Wuxian’s (and Lan Wangji’s) magical inventiveness on display; mysterious uncharted musical magic—the climactic confrontation is an elaborate musical-cultivational ritual that deserves to be animated.

And then there’s the famous Moonlight Windowsill Papapa Scene.

Fanwork Links: The envy of the world, by

vulnerable_bead for

joolita

goddess47

Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairings/Characters: no pairings; Harry Potter, Tom Riddle (not Voldemort, there is a difference), a myriad of OCs
Rating: PG
Length: 15K across 7 works
Creator Links: AO3 profile
Theme: amnesty, magic, time travel, being the best one can be

Content Notes:

One ficlet marked 'sad' refers to child murder; it's not terribly graphic but there is one sentence that is definitely disturbing.

The entire story is based on rescuing magical children living on the streets for a variety of reasons.

Summary:

Harry Time Travels to the Past, creates a Sanctuary for children and also, there's a teenage dark lord.

Reccer's Notes:

A lovely story that centers about Harry himself but is not really about Harry. It's about Harry being kind and gentle and strong and amazing. And the kids -- for this is a story about the children -- are amazing because Harry knows they are.

It's a beautiful fic. LadyHallan added some pieces recently, which reminded me this even exists and I had to share it.

Fanwork Links: Sanctuary

panisdead

Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Pairings/Characters: Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes, Thanos
Rating: General Audiences
Creator Links:

wingedcorgi
Theme: Magic, Gen, Fanart

Summary: Steve, do you know what my biggest dream is?

Reccer's Notes: Once upon a time there was a guy who loved to fight fellas twice his size, a best friend, and a bet. This four-panel cartoon tells their story. My favorite parts are Steve's hilariously disgruntled eyebrows and Bucky's little hip-shot chirping pose, with the differing background colors for different eras following closely behind. I'm reccing this for the Magic theme because of the Infinity Gauntlet, but a decades-long friendship is pretty magical too.

Contains: suggestions of cartoon blood/violence; Thanos. I found the artist's Tumblr background distracting and the art easier to see if I clicked through the panels individually.

Fanwork Links: Incorrigible, by

wingedcorgi

mific

Fandom: Stargate Atlantis, Harry Potter
Characters/Pairings: Ronon Dex/Harry Potter, John Sheppard, Rodney McKay, Carson Beckett
Rating: Teen
Length: 44,824
Content Notes: Graphic depictions of violence. And just a heads up for a fair few typos - I still enjoyed the story, but if typos/grammatical issues are hard for you to skim over, this fic may not be for you.
Creator Links: esama on AO3
Theme: Magic, Action/adventure, AU: magic, Crossover pairing, Crossovers & Fusions, Friends to lovers

Summary: The life of a Runner is hell, but even hell doesn't seem so bad when you have decent company.

Reccer's Notes: I love the premise of this fic, where Harry is exiled magically after being wrongly accused of killing Cedric Diggory at the end of the Triwizard Tournament, and ends up alone on an otherwise uninhabited planet in Pegasus (with no idea what the Stargate is) - a planet to which a wounded Ronon eventually comes. Harry was alone there for several years and although Ronon tries to make him leave for somewhere more populated, Harry won't go. So Ronon teaches Harry about Pegasus and the Stargates, and Harry uses magic to help them survive. It's a partial fix-it for Ronon, as although they both do better together, life on the run is still very hard. There are also tantalising hints about what happened to the wizarding world with Harry gone (nothing good). The bulk of the fic is gen as they don't act on the deepening bond between them until near the end. It's an interesting idea, and a great read.

Fanwork Links: Undone Wars

22degreehalo

Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairings/Characters: Sirius/Remus
Rating: G
Length: 3,267
Creator Links:

canis_m
Theme: Magic, Animals, Friends to Lovers, Pre-AO3 Works, Pre-Canon

Summary: Young Sirius makes a choice and gets thrown out of a library.

Reccer's Notes: A lovely little fic about how Sirius might've chosen his animagus form.

Fanwork Links: A Particular Affinity

22degreehalo

Fandom: Mad Men
Pairings/Characters: Pete Campbell/Bob Bensen
Rating: M
Length: 1,779
Creator Links:

skazka
Theme: Magic, (Something) Made Them Do It, Crack, Humor, Rare Pairings

Summary: Bob and Pete do corporate sex magic.

Reccer's Notes: The whole premise is so dumb and surreal - so, just about in line with the weird shit these wealthy privileged men get up to in canon - and Pete is just as keen to criticise it all as he is to take advantage of it (grumbling all the way). A very fun little fic!

Fanwork Links: (the first time ever) i saw your face

beatrice_otter

Fandom: Chronicles of Narnia
Pairings/Characters:
Rating: K
Length: 1339 words
Creator Links:

WingedFlight
Theme: magic, worldbuilding, small fandoms, old fandoms, book fandoms, outsider perspective, gen,

Summary: People were always falling into Adventures in the Professor's house.

Reccer's Notes: This is such an interesting perspective on what it would all look like from the outside, and it answered questions I didn't know I had about the Professor and his household.

Fanwork Links: Concerning the Daily Maintenance of a Large Country House

22degreehalo

Fandom: Wizards of Waverly Place
Pairings/Characters: Alex/Justin
Rating:
Length: 3:34
Creator Links: Danielle W.
Theme: Magic, Family, Fanvids

Summary:
Show: Wizards Of Waverly Place
Coloring: SunnyVids

Reccer's Notes: A very sweet, well-edited vid! :)

Fanwork Links: alex + justin | waiting on you

mific

Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Characters/Pairings: Gen: Jennifer Keller, John Sheppard, Ronon Dex, Elizabeth Weir
Rating: Teen
Length: 2456
Content Notes: No AO3 warnings apply
Creator Links: skieswideopen on AO3
Theme: Magic, Magic AU, Minor characters, Worldbuilding

Summary: Atlantis can be suffocating for a mage.

Reccer's Notes: This is an interesting story in which magic is known and utilised in society - Jennifer is a mage with impressive powers of healing. But unfortunately magic interferes with technology, including Ancient technology, which means mages can only operate in shielded rooms so they don't short out the Stargate, etc. The story shows the importance of Jennifer's role, but also the price she and the other mages pay in terms of isolation - but it ends hopefully. Great worldbuilding - very unusual, and well written.

Fanwork Links: The Salt Sea

beatrice_otter

Fandom: Poirot
Pairings/Characters: Poirot, Hastings
Rating: teen
Length: 14k
Creator Links:

Quasar
Theme: magic, small fandoms, old fandoms, book fandoms, mythical creatures: fairies, gen, friendship,

Summary: Poirot has long wondered about some secrets of Hastings' past, until a new case brings up old dirt.

Reccer's Notes: Poirot is so dedicated to logic and cerebral things, it's interesting to see how he handles a situation in which there are things beyond the natural order of things afoot. Quasar does an excellent job of capturing both Poirot and Hastings' characters and showing the friendship between them (and why it's important to both of them despite their differences).

Fanwork Links: The Solemn-Eyed

goddess47

Fandom: 9-1-1
Pairings/Characters: Eddie Diaz/Buck Buckey
Rating: PG
Length: 13,000
Creator Links:

kristen999; also AO3 profile
Theme: magic, fantasy,

Content Notes:

Major character suffers from depression; not graphic but a story element.

Summary:

The Sweet Spot was nestled on the side of a mountain, a world away from the urban expanse of Los Angeles where they all once resided. Opening a bakery was the start of a new beginning. Then, a year ago, the emergence of a magical portal altered the course of their lives forever.

Within a month, the mythical patrons had surpassed the sleepy town's usual crowds, prompting Eddie and Buck to transition their bakery into an evening-only establishment, open from Thursday to Sunday.

Magical portals to other realms should have put them on the evening news, maybe even earned them visits by swarms of scientists and government officials. But no one seemed to care.

Reccer's Notes:

A lovely and gentle story that is a wonderful riff on the 'coffee shop AU' trope. The story features Buck, Eddie, Hen, and Chim who escape LA to open a coffee shop that soon becomes something none of them expected. Fae, leprechauns, sprites, and other supernatural creatures come to the shop for the delights our crew make.

Just a delightful fic!

Fanwork Links: The Sweet Spot

beatrice_otter

Fandom: DC Comics
Pairings/Characters: Billy Batson, Bruce Wayne
Rating: teen
Length: 88k
Creator Links:

Wolfsbanesparks
Theme: magic, AU, families of choice, spells and curses, secret identity reveal, secret identities, novel length, gen, casefic

Summary: All Billy Batson wanted was to survive a particularly rough week living on the streets of Fawcett City. The last thing he was looking for was a new family.

All Bruce Wayne wanted was to learn a bit more about his upbeat teammate under the guise of official Wayne Enterprises business. But he could never turn his back on a child in need. Especially one as surrounded by mystery as Billy.

OR

Billy gets adopted by the Batfamily while trying to deal with a strong magical enemy.

Reccer's Notes: You know how Bruce Wayne compulsively adopts black-haired orphan children? And that describes Billy Batson (Captain Marvel)? This is one of several fics where Bruce adopts Billy, in this case without figuring out that he's got an alter-ego of Captain Marvel. Billy-as-Captain-Marvel's current case is interesting, the emotional beats of Billy joining the family are great, and the secret identity shenanigans are lovely.

Fanwork Links: From the Shadows

beatrice_otter

Fandom: Captain America
Pairings/Characters: Steve/Bucky, Peggy Carter,
Rating: mature
Length: 152k
Creator Links:

orange_crushed
Theme: magic, AU, action/adventure, casefic, spies, superpowers, epic works, novel length, going home, science fiction,

Summary: “Holy shit,” Howard says, crackling through the speakers. “You alive in there?” Lying is a sin, of course, but Steve’s not sure what else he can do. He’s already lied to the government and Bucky and God Almighty; and himself, himself most of all. He ought to tell the truth. That he’s not quite what they hoped for. That perhaps they should put him back into the ocean.

“Probably,” he says, instead, listening to Howard’s tinny laughter; and waits for the blast doors to unlock.

Reccer's Notes: This fic is epic, with a blend of angst, hope, and action that I just love. It can be very atmospheric, and also has a lot of great action scenes. And it does an excellent job of leaning into all the pseudoscience comic book movie shenanigans to build a plot and character arcs that hang together for 152k words.

Fanwork Links: cascades.

beatrice_otter

Fandom: Check Please
Pairings/Characters: Jack/Bitty
Rating: Teen
Length: 17k
Creator Links:

psocoptera
Theme: magic, family, wrong universe, teams, parallel universes, happy endings, fork in the road AU

Summary: Bitty wakes up in the Ice Capades.

(In which family is difficult, the wrong people are kissed, and the NHL has a secret magic problem.)

Reccer's Notes: Bitty spends most of the series in the closet--at first to everyone in his life, and after he tells his teammates, he still hasn't told his family, because he's afraid of their reactions. In this fic, he gets bodyswapped into a universe where he told his family when he was seventeen--and that Bitty gets put in the canon universe. Both have things to learn, and both fears and hopes are realized. It's very well done.

Fanwork Links: Thin Ice

jasmasson

Fandom: DCU/Batman
Pairings/Characters: Dick Grayson & Slade Wilson, Dick Grayson & Batman members
Rating: Teen
Length: 25,206 words
Creator Links: Icannotthinkofapenname at AO3
Theme: Magic, De-aging

Summary:
Slade finds a young, frightened, amnesiac five-year old Dick Grayson, and decides it's time to be a father again.

. . .

Little Dick does not have amnesia...but it feels kinda late to admit that now...

. . .

Meanwhile, the rest of the Batfam wanna know where their big brother is?!

Reccer’s Notes: An extremely fun fic, where everyone loves Dick Grayson (as indeed they should). This fic is lighthearted and mostly free of the angst and violence that is in the majority of Slade fics, which makes a nice change. This one should make you smile; I very much enjoy both Slade and the Batbros’ interactions with mini-Dick.

Fanwork links: Little Bird

mific

Fandoms: Stargate Atlantis & Harry Potter
Characters/Pairings: Carson Beckett/Hermione Granger, John Sheppard, Rodney McKay, Harry Potter, Elizabeth Weir, Radek Zelenka, Stephen Caldwell, Professor McGonagall
Rating: Teen
Length: 21,172 & 13,721
Content Notes: In the AU Harry Potterverse, Ron hasn't survived the war.
Creator Links: Isis on AO3
Theme: Magic, Alternate Universe: Magic, Alternate Universe - fork in the road, Action/Adventure, Crossovers and fusions

Summaries: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

Rodney swallowed and shook his head from side to side, as though he was sure he must have heard it wrong. "Broomsticks?"
"Oh, yes," said Harry. "I've always thought Atlantis needed a Quidditch league."

Reccer's Notes: A series of two fics from Carson's POV - possibly the first story to suggest the ATA gene conferred magical ability. The first one's gen and in the second there's a developing relationship with Hermione. This is a magical AU from SGA's perspective, and a fork-in-the-road AU for Hermione and Harry. Carson is a half-muggle wizard who was removed from Hogwarts by his mum at the end of the first war against Voldemort, and who lived as a muggle thereafter. By chance, his interest in magic is rekindled on Atlantis and in investigating his theory about the gene he comes to Hermione's attention. These are very entertaining fics with an interesting exploration of combining magic with Ancient technology, and they bring some key figures from HP into SGA-verse. There's romance in the second story but the focus of both fics is largely gen. In the second one, Harry of course brings quidditch to Atlantis, despite incursions by the Wraith, and John of course takes to it like a duck to water. Fun, clever, and hopeful, the series is a great read.

Fanwork Links: Clarke's Law & The All-Atlantis Quidditch Tournament

jasmasson

Fandom: Supernatural
Pairings/Characters: Sam/Dean, Sam/Jess
Rating: Teen
Length: 11,000 words
Creator Links: Flesh at AO3 (Limited fics there) and Fleshflutter at Livejournal
Theme: Magic, Bodyswap, Genderswap, preseries

Summary: The title kind of says it all. I couldn't make up my mind whether to write bodyswap or genderswitch so I wrote both. And I can't believe there aren't a million and one fics about the effects of Dean and Jess sharing a birthday!

Reccer’s Notes: Fleshflutter’s wonderful comic voice very much in evidence here, and she makes Jess an appealing, rounded character while giving us the Sam and Dean we already know so well. A delightfully lighthearted and just plain fun fic.

Fanwork links: The Time Dean was Sam's Girlfriend and Jess Entered the Winchester Family Business

jasmasson

Fandom: DCU/Batman
Pairings/Characters: Jason Todd, Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, AlfredPennyworth & Jason Todd, Jason Todd & Jason Blood
Rating: Teen
Length: 40,000 words
Creator Links: Valkirin at AO3
Theme: Magic, Amnesia

Summary: Black Mask hires Circe to keep Red Hood out of his way for a week. Circe's spell will only last a week and she doesn't think Batman will notice or care that she placed a time-limited memory spell on a minor criminal.

Fifteen-year-old Jason Todd wakes up in a future he doesn't understand.

Reccer’s Notes: Young Jason is an absolute delight here. He continually refers to Bruce as his Dad and Dick as his big brother in his head, and it tugs my heartstrings the way it clearly tugs their’s. Through Jason’s perspective we get a good look at ‘good parent Bruce Wayne’ from before Jason’s death, and how Jason needs to reconcile everything when he gets his memory back is very insightful too. A lovely read.

Fanwork links: reset

jasmasson

Fandom: Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Pairings/Characters: Obi-Wan Kenobi/Cody
Rating: General
Length: 7,743 words
Creator Links: galateaGalvanized at AO3
Theme: Magic

Summary: “Sir, I need you to tell me what’s wrong,” Cody says, battlefield calm, and he can’t help his relief when Obi-Wan pulls the tattered remains of his usual dignity back over his shoulders.

“Right,” Obi-Wan says. “Of course. Commander, as far as I can tell, everyone besides you on this ship has fallen truly, madly, deeply in love with me.”

Reccer’s Notes: Delightfully fun take on the old sex-pollen trope where all clones of the 212th are magically enamored of General Kenobi. Except Cody - why could that be, I wonder?!

Fanwork links: Standard Operating Procedures

jasmasson

Fandom: due South
Pairings/Characters: Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski , Diefenbaker
Rating: Explicit
Length: 20,414 words
Creator Links: Speranza at AO3
Theme: Magic, Animal transformation

Summary: Dief made a face, his nose crinkling in almost comic distaste. "Terrible. Human. Body," Dief insisted, signing the words decisively. "No coat, and two legs put you off-balance, never mind how you're forced to expose your—"

Fraser felt his eyebrows shoot into his hairline.

"—to everyone, which is really not smart, if you ask me," Dief concluded.

Reccer’s Notes: Dief is turned into a human by a witch on a case. He has to learn to use opposable thumbs, but arguably Fraser learns something more important…

Speranza’s works are classics in this fandom, and her grasp of the characters’ voices, innovative plots and excellent storytelling will show you why. This was recced on this comm already ten years ago for trope inversion - as unlike most animal transformation fics it’s an animal character to a human not the other way around - and it was more than ten years old then. A real classic, indeed, but absolutely worth a re-read…

Fanwork links: About a Dog

jasmasson

Fandom: Batman/DCU
Pairings/Characters: Jason Todd, Batfamily Members & Jason Todd, Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Alfred Pennyworth & Jason Todd, Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake & Jason Todd
Rating: Teen and up
Length: 94,000
Creator Links: Ptelea at AO3
Theme: Magic, Batfam, memory loss

Summary: Jason would tell you that his most recent case, where he stopped a wannabe warlock's spell-in-progress, went just fine.

Jason would also tell you he was fine with the distant, prickly status quo of his relationships with the other Bats.

(Jason is maybe not the most reliable of narrators.)

Or: A spell gone wrong leads to Jason hashing some things out--with himself, with Dick, and with the rest of the Batfam. Featuring: rather a lot of thoughts and conversations about memory, change, damage, love and trust, accountability, family, hurt, lies, death, Spyral, pedestals, cases, memorials, stories, and Robin.

Reccer’s Notes: This is a Jason Todd focused fic, but also an incredible ensemble piece, where every single member of the bat family is portrayed brilliantly. DCU does have very patchy consistency in canon characterisation, but this author takes pretty much the best versions of these characters and brings them to life with sympathy, consistency and authenticity. The characterisations and character interactions here are very compelling, and the magically induced memory loss gives us an exciting storyline to really explore Jason Todd and his relationships with the bat family. If you enjoy Jason Todd and Batfam fics, you will not be disappointed!

Fanwork links: Recollect, Re-collect

mific

Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Characters/Pairings: John Sheppard/Rodney McKay, Teyla Emmagan, Ronon Dex
Rating: Mature
Length: 3029
Content Notes: none apply
Creator Links: busaikko on AO3
Theme: Magic, First time, AU: Magic, AU: Sports, Crossovers & Fusions

Summary: What happens when reclusive broom-maker Rodney McKay meets professional Quidditch player John Sheppard. (The fic formerly known as Bedhead and Broomsticks).

Reccer's Notes: This is an amusing magic and sports AU, a fusion with Harry Potter 'verse. It's set after Voldemort's defeat and busaikko manages some wonderful characterisation of them both, with Rodney trying to repair his shop's reputation after his grandfather disgraced the family by joining the dark side, and John having been somewhat unjustly punished in the fall-out after the war: "He never gave interviews, Jeannie wrote, and always shuffled sideways out of his playing cards." Lovely worldbuilding and romance, and an excellent read.

Fanwork Links: McKay's Quality Brooms & Sundry Oddments (est. 1842)

beatrice_otter

Fandom: Peter Wimsey
Pairings/Characters: Harriet Vane, Peter Wimsey, Bunter
Rating: gen
Length: 1521 words
Creator Links:

brutti_ma_buoni
Theme: magic, AU, worldbuilding, small fandoms, book fandoms, old fandoms, research, Magic AU,

Summary: Harriet struggles with a plot point. Wimsey can resolve it - if she asks.

Reccer's Notes: This is such an interesting use of a magic AU. It takes the canonical elements (Peter in love with Harriet; Harriet deeply attracted but also ambivalent because of a wide range of factors including but not limited to her trauma over her previous relationship, the class differences, her vocation as a writer) and adds magic. Which doesn't fix anything, actually. It has some of the best explorations of Peter and Harriet in this phase of their relationship I've ever seen in fanfic.

Fanwork Links: Drown My Books

beatrice_otter

Fandom: Batman comics
Pairings/Characters: Tim Drake, Alfred Pennyworth
Rating: G
Length: 4k
Creator Links:

Ellegy42
Theme: magic, AU, fork in the road, fixit, kidfic (as kids), gen, humor,

Summary: Not once, when Tim had been considering how Jason might react to the idea of a new Robin, had it crossed his mind that Jason would be so appalled by such an insult that he would actually come back to life to kill Tim for it.

That, Tim realizes as a grasping hand pushes up through the grass in front of Jason’s headstone, may have been a grave error.

Reccer's Notes: This is funny, and sweet, and does an amazing job of writing Tim as just as precocious and smart as he is in canon, but also one who is a realistic twelve year old. It's delightful

Fanwork Links: Fools, Ghouls, and Grave Mistakes

beatrice_otter

Fandom: Lord of the Rings, Silmarillion
Pairings/Characters: Maglor | Makalaurë, Saruman | Curunír
Rating: Gen
Length: 8600 words
Creator Links:

NevillesGran
Theme: magic, AU, fixit, old fandoms, trauma and recovery, psychic powers, never met in canon, happy endings, going home, gen, families of choice, competence,

Summary: It was not with heavy heart that Paladin Took approached the Bird's Nest. But his ribs might've been weighty and his liver positively annoyed, and not just from the many fine ales and finer wines he'd consumed throughout his life. It was that damn Lotho again, Lotho Sacksville-Baggins from up Hobbiton way with his air and his Big Men—well, two could play at that game! And if anyone was going to be calling themselves "Chief" in this day and age, it would be the right and proper Thain of the Shire!

His blood up, he knocked rather hard on the oversized door. "Maggie! Are you in there? Open up!"

Reccer's Notes: Maglor ends the Silmarillion wandering aimlessly forever alone along the beaches of Middle Earth, wailing and bemoaning and singing the tragedy of ... well, the entire Silmarillion, basically. A lot of fics have him turning up somewhere, and this is one of my favorites. Hobbits don't really care about all that ancient history (Bilbo aside), and they're just the sort of practical, compassionate people who might take in Maglor and give him a home.

And then the events of LotR happen, and Saruman shows up in the Shire as revenge for what Merry and Pippin did, and Frodo's destruction of the Ring.

Things turn out very differently, with Maglor around ...

Fanwork Links: Old Maggie Took

beatrice_otter

Fandom: DC Comics
Pairings/Characters: Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne
Rating: gen
Length: 81k
Creator Links: Cdelphiki
Theme: magic, time travel, time travel fixit, trauma and recovery, secret identities, parallel universes and dimension travel, kidfic (de-aged), happy endings, going home, gen, families of choice, novel-length

Summary: One moment, Red Hood was fighting with Black Mask, listening to the idiot go on about how he'd murder Jason long before he'd become a problem. The next... Jason was ten years in the past, nine-years-old, and fending for himself on the streets of Gotham. Bruce might not know about Jason yet in the timeline, but Batman was the only one who could protect him against Black Mask.

If only Jason didn't hate him so much...

Reccer's Notes: The Batman comics have a lot of time travel fixit stories, and this is one of my favorites. It's about fixing things in the past and in the present, too. And fixing relationships as much as (or more than!) the case bits.

Fanwork Links: The Time Before

beatrice_otter

Fandom: Rivers of London, Call of Duty
Pairings/Characters: Peter Grant, Simon "Ghost" Riley
Rating: teen
Length: 43k
Creator Links:

Lisbetadair
Theme: magic, crossover, casefic, favorite fics, gen, small fandoms, competence

Summary: “The SAS are reporting a magical crime?”

PC Peter Grant is dragged back out of London into the wilds of the Herefordshire countryside to deal with a report of supernatural vandalism in Stirling Lines, the beating heart of 22 SAS Regiment. But supernatural vandalism is just the symptom, and within the blind patriotism and paranoia of the regimental high command is a much darker sickness, that flooding Wye intents to wash clean.

Reccer's Notes: You do not need to know anything about Call of Duty to read this. It's one of my favorite casefics, and Lisbet has a great ear for Peter's voice and narrative style.

Fanwork Links: Normal Men

Can I get a Call of Duty tag?

beatrice_otter

Fandom: Moon Knight
Pairings/Characters: Layla El-Faouly/Steven Grant/Marc Spector
Rating: teen
Length: 15k
Creator Links:

estelraca
Theme: magic, superheroes, worldbuilding, characters of color, female characters, women being awesome, trope subversion, polyamory

Summary: Layla wants to understand Taweret better, and communicate with her better. She doesn't expect this to result in her taking a quick return back to Cairo to fight psychic monsters, but such is apparently the role of a superhero.

Reccer's Notes: This fic does several things marvelously well. It does an amazing job of exploring and building on the Layla/Steven/Marc relationship. It takes the worldbuilding we are given in the series about the gods and their avatars, and deepens it. It subverts all my expectations of the action part of a superhero story. On every level, it's wonderful to read.

Fanwork Links: The Valleys Where Shadows Dwell

kingstoken

Fandom: Supernatural
Pairings/Characters: Sam/Castiel
Rating: G
Length: 4775 words
Creator Links: remy
Theme: magic

Summary: When Sam loses consciousness on a hunt after being attacked with djinn venom, it's up to Cas to venture into his subconscious and try to find him there.

Reccer's Notes: Sam is hit with a spell and Cas has to go into his dreams to rescue him; there he discovers that Sam dreams about them being a couple. This story is bittersweet in parts as Sam tries to come to terms with the fact that he is in a dream, but the ending is very nice. It was one of the first Sastiel works I ever read, and it sold me on the pairing. One note, it does contain one scene that deals with the cage and Sam's trauma from Hell/Lucifer.

Fanwork Links: Ao3

kingstoken

Fandom: Dead Boy Detectives
Pairings/Characters: Edwin Payne/Charles Rowland
Rating: M
Length: 9060 words
Creator Links: williamvapespeare
Theme: Magic, casefic

Summary: The boys have a horror marathon that's a bit more full on than intended. Happy Halloween!

Reccer's Notes: The summary of this fic really doesn't give you any idea of what the fic is about. The boys don't really have a movie marathon, at least not how one would expect, but get caught in a place where stories are brought to life via magic. I thought it was a neat concept, and loved how the boys relied on each other to get themselves out of the situation.

Fanwork Links: AO3

runpunkrun

Photograph with text: Magic, at Fancake. A brown-skinned man in a red turban with a neatly trimmed goatee and mustache holds a tangled ball of light in his cupped hands. It's very dark where he is, but his face is illuminated with a warm glow and he has a serious, yet serene expression as he looks down into his hands.

Our theme for November is magic!

That's any kind of magic: a magic ring, a genie that grants three wishes, witches, wizards, and warlocks, magicians and illusionists, spells and curses, magical creatures and myths, and, in some cases, any sufficiently advanced technology.

The tag for this round is: theme: magic

If you're just joining us, be sure to check out our policy on content notes. Content notes aren't required, but they're nice to include in your recs, especially if a fanwork has untagged content that readers may wish to know about in advance.

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