full_metal_ox: A gold Chinese Metal Ox zodiac charm. (Default)
[personal profile] full_metal_ox
Fandom: Chronicles of Narnia; No Reservations
Pairings/Characters: Gen; Anthony Bourdain, “Global” Alan Weeks, Todd Liebler, Tracey Goodwin, Reepicheep, Aslan, and a cast of colorful Narnian OCs.
Rating: Teen and up (mostly for Bourdain-characteristic profanity.)
Length: 6,228 words; podfic 34:21
Content Notes: a vast variety of food, some narratively presented as off-putting; drunkenness; smoking; weed (that he doesn’t get to use); Bourdain’s typical abrasive impertinence; Author Showed Her Work.

Creator Links:
Fic: (AO3) [archiveofourown.org profile] Edonohana; (Dreamwidth) [personal profile] rachelmanija;
Cover art: (AO3): [profile] moonblossom_graphics;
Podfic: (AO3): [archiveofourown.org profile] duckgirlie

Theme: Food and Cooking, previously recced for Crossovers/Fusions, previously recced for Small Fandoms, Cultural Differences, Fandom Classics, Older Characters, Research, Worldbuilding

Summary: I’m crammed into a burrow so small that my knees are up around my ears and the boom mike keeps slamming into my head, inhaling the potent scent of toffee-apple brandy and trying to drink a talking mouse under the table.

Author’s Notes: Cut_for_length. )

Reccer's Notes: Okay; what’s the September 2025 Food & Cooking theme even for if this classic doesn’t circle around for a threepeat? (Twelve years since the last mention should be a sufficient interval.)

This brilliant crossover, all the more poignant in hindsight, nails both Bourdain’s voice and the Narnian sense of place, painstakingly hitting all the beats: Food Porn; Food Gorn (with the acknowledgement that the difference between the two is in the palate of the beholder); departure from what Diana Wynne-Jones would term the Guided Tour into Parts Unknown, with the aid of knowledgeable locals; hospitality in austere circumstances; martial arts (with thought given to the size logistics!); scary local politics; above all, food as a vehicle of cross-cultural understanding.

“No Reservations: Narnia” has the additional distinction of being RPF that not only reached but impressed the subject:

“This is astonishingly well written with an attention to detail that’s frankly a bit frightening…I’m both flattered and disturbed. I think I need a drink.”—Anthony Bourdain.

Fanwork Links: No Reservations: Narnia, by [archiveofourown.org profile] Edonohana for [archiveofourown.org profile] innocentsmith.

Inspired Works:
Cover art by [archiveofourown.org profile] moonblossom_graphics
Podfic by [archiveofourown.org profile] duckgirlie (also available on Jinjurly: https://audiofic.jinjurly.com/no-reservations-narnia)
full_metal_ox: Escher’s “Print Gallery” as a rotating TV image. (TV)
[personal profile] full_metal_ox
Fandom: Neuromancer | Sprawl Trilogy - William Gibson
Pairings/Characters: Gen; Sally Shears | Molly Millions & Yanaka Kumiko
Rating: General Audiences
Length: 1,225
Content Notes: No Archive Warnings Apply (but a character’s dark backstory is hinted at.)
Creator Tags: Cyberpunk, razor girl, Friendship, Mentors, Mentor & Protégé, Yakuza, Missing Scene, Female Friendship, Backstory, Fanon
Creator Links: (AO3) [archiveofourown.org profile] LizzyChrome; (BlueSky): [bsky.social profile] lizzychrome; (DeviantArt) [deviantart.com profile] lizzychrome; (Facebook) [facebook.com profile] LizzyChrome; (Instagram) [instagram.com profile] lizzy_chrome
Theme: Female Relationships, Backstory, Book Fandoms, Female Friendship, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Older Characters, Worldbuilding

Summary: How do Molly's claws and lenses actually work? Kumiko pries. (Missing scene from "Mona Lisa Overdrive.")

Author’s Notes: If you havne't read MLO yet, I won't spoil anything. I'll just set the scene, without giving anyway any important story elements: Molly is now middle-aged, goes by "Sally Shears," and is working as a body guard for a Japanese girl named Kumiko.

I do not own "Mona Lisa Overdrive."

This oldie was written probably over ten years ago. I originally posted it to Fanfiction.net, then took it down, feeling it was pointless. But in light of the new "Neuromancer" show coming out, I want to preserve this little ficlet, to see how my fanon explanation for how Molly's claws work compares to what (if anything) the show gives us regarding that explanation. After a quick re-read, I decided that no edit was needed. What you see here is what I originally posted ten or eleven years ago.


Reccer's Notes: This vignette expands upon an exchange in Mona Lisa Overdrive between aging cyborg mercenary Sally Shears (AKA Molly Millions, Cat Mother, Steppin’ Razor, Rose Kolodny, and Misty Steele—this lady’s got more names than a Wuxia hero) and her charge Yanaka Kumiko; Sally confides measured bits of her backstory to the crushstruck Kumiko, including stripping to bare a torso-long scar (from a near-fatal cagefighting injury, kept “to remind her of being stupid.”)

It’s a precious moment of trust, an elusive commodity in both women’s lives; LizzyChrome elaborates upon this to let Sally hold forth on how her prosthetics work—a question that Gibson chose to bury under Rule of Cool, and that’s challenged two generations’ worth of illustrators and cosplayers.

With the upcoming Neuromancer series on Apple+TV, Molly finally leaves the roster of visually iconic SFF characters not yet defined in the popular imagination by a screen adaptation (1). The Molly in my head admittedly didn’t resemble Briana Middleton, but I look forward to seeing her interpretation of the role (as well as how faithful to the spirit of the book the script gets to be, now that Hollywood has gotten their hands on

(A) a Beloved Property™,

(B) whose cyberpunk dystopia is feeling uncomfortably real in a number of respects—thanks in no small part to megacorporations like Apple.)


(1) Gully Foyle from The Stars My Destination and Elric of Melniboné also come to mind.


Fanwork Links: Shears, by [archiveofourown.org profile] LizzyChrome.
beatrice_otter: Poirot: Little Grey Cells (Little Grey Cells)
[personal profile] beatrice_otter
Fandom: Miss Marple
Pairings/Characters: Jane Marple/Inspector Finch
Rating: teen
Length: 36k
Creator Links: [personal profile] leupagus 
Theme: unrequited love, old fandoms, book fandoms, small fandoms, rare pairings, older characters, friendships,

Summary: They say that one should never meet one's heroes. Heroines may be another matter entirely.

Reccer's Notes: Miss Marple usually makes a fool out of the detectives in charge of solving the murders, but Finch is a rare one who respects her from the beginning--in fact, he's a fan of hers. And the most recent Miss Marple played their interactions so warmly that it looks like he's in love with her, and she's quite taken with him. Leupagus takes this and runs with it, giving us 36k of a middle-aged pair slowly deepening their relationship ... and although it's quite obvious how he feels, in this case Miss Marple is the one who can't see the obvious. Beautifully done, and sweet without being saccharine.

Fanwork Links: For Which The First Was Made
full_metal_ox: A gold Chinese Metal Ox zodiac charm. (Default)
[personal profile] full_metal_ox
Fandom: Kushiel's Legacy - Jacqueline Carey
Pairings/Characters: F/M, M/M; OCs
Rating: Explicit
Length: 10,053
Content Notes: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Creator Tags:
Twins, Orgy, Healing, Sex, Public Sex, The Night Court, Tentacles, Courtesans, Teacher/Student Roleplay, Coming In Pants, Fight Sex, Hurt/Comfort, Food Porn, Sexual Roleplay
Creator Links: [archiveofourown.org profile] Edonohana, [personal profile] rachelmanija,
Theme: No Canon Required, Trauma and Recovery, Hurt/Comfort, Older Characters, Porn with Plot, Smut, Worldbuilding

Summary: A life told in visits to the Houses of the Night Court.

Reccer’s Notes: A D’Angeline OC narrator uses the houses of the Night Court as his lifelong vehicle for exploration of the mysteries of love, sex, sensuality, imagination, joy, sorrow, health, infirmity, bereavement, spirituality, and mortality.

(Mandrake and Valerian are conspicuously absent; on a Watsonian level, the narrator knows his tastes don’t run that way, and on a Doylist level, the canon thoroughly details what goes on there.) The Kushiel Saga is an immersive universe that implies a far bigger, older, and richer world beyond the borders of the story at hand, and this is one of those fics that jumps off the narrative Tour Bus and evades the Tour Guide to investigate the mazy side streets and Parts Unknown off the main canon path, with Edonohana as your Anthony Bourdain and a cast of OCs worthy of their own book.

(And each House’s interpretation of love, sex, and spirituality contains its own complexities: you might be surprised by where the sweaty grunting mud-wrestling match takes place. Or the Tentacle Hentai scenario. Or how Heliotrope reconcile their motto “Thou, and no other” with sex work.)

Fanwork Link: Lovely In Her Fall, by [archiveofourown.org profile] Edonohana for [personal profile] calenlily; for Yuletide 2016.
beatrice_otter: Delenn--Grey Council (Delenn--Grey Council)
[personal profile] beatrice_otter
Fandom: Babylon 5
Pairings/Characters: Delenn, Londo Mollari
Rating: gen
Length: 420 words
Creator Links: [archiveofourown.org profile] Selena 
Theme: missing scene, character study, fandom classic, pre-AO3 works, old fandom, small fandom, gen, older characters,

Summary: Londo and Delenn and the mercy of the universe.

Reccer's Notes: You have to know Babylon 5 to get all the layers in this, but if you do, it is AMAZING. Delenn and Londo have so many odd similarities--and parallels--in their character arcs, despite being very different people and starting and ending in very different places. This fic is set during the movie In The Beginning, which is Londo telling all the backstory of the series--how the Earth-Minbari War happened and how that led to the creation of Babylon 5. While he's telling that story, he's holding John Sheridan and Delenn captive. Not by choice, but because he himself is being imprisoned in his own body by an alien parasite.

Londo and Delenn, talking about old times and their history, with so many layers of meaning packed into such a short piece. It is riveting.

Fanwork Links: Mercy
beatrice_otter: Poirot: Little Grey Cells (Little Grey Cells)
[personal profile] beatrice_otter
Fandom: Sherlock Holmes
Pairings/Characters: Sherlock Holmes/OMC, John Watson
Rating: Mature
Length: 7k
Creator Links: [archiveofourown.org profile] earlybloomingparentheses 
Theme: trope subversion, old fandom, book fandom, rare pairing, post canon, older characters, established relationships, domestic,

Summary: It is 1907, and Sherlock Holmes' lover of three years knows him only as a tender of bees, a grower of roses, and a gentle, open companion. But then a letter arrives from Dr. Watson, followed by Dr. Watson himself, and their sleepy Sussex cottage plays host to memories of the past and fears for the future.

Reccer's Notes: Stop me if you've heard this one before: addictions can be conquered by true love, the great passionate love of your youth will last forever, and if it doesn't, that's a tragedy.

Except in this story, none of those things are true. It's thoughtful, and kind, and very much not the typical take on Holmes and Watson's future.

Fanwork Links: Honey and Wounds
beatrice_otter: Stargate--My fandom has Space Pyramids! (Space Pyramids!)
[personal profile] beatrice_otter
Fandom: SG-1
Pairings/Characters: Teal'c
Rating: Teen
Length: 9k
Creator Links: [archiveofourown.org profile] annerb 
Theme: Black characters, worldbuilding, worldbuilding fixit, old fandoms, characters of color, going home, older characters, politics,

Summary: Teal’c thought the hardest battles already won, but instead, the real struggles are just beginning. The Jaffa nation after the defeat of the Goa’uld.

Reccer's Notes: SG-1 handled the Jaffa as fairly standard barbarian warrior types. Annerb does an excellent job of diving deeper, and exploring what happens after they overthrow the Goa'uld, and what Teal'c's role in the building of a new Jaffa society might be. As always, her character work is very thoughtful, and she does an excellent job at taking what we know of Teal'c and Ishta and the Jaffa and building interesting things with it.

Fanwork Links: The Sleeping Warrior
beatrice_otter: Me in red--face not shown (Default)
[personal profile] beatrice_otter
Fandom: Pacific Rim
Pairings/Characters: Hercules Hansen/Stacker Pentecost
Rating: Explicit
Length: 6k
Creator Links: [archiveofourown.org profile] proprioception 
Theme: Black characters, fixit, au, family, small fandoms, older characters, rare pairings, everybody lives AU, old fandoms, fork in the road AU

Summary: Chuck's mind is noisy. So many of his memories of his childhood are of hurricane-fighting machines, thunderous and monumental. Stacker has lived and breathed these incredible weapons for years, but so has Chuck, and unlike Stacker, he hasn't lived and breathed much else.

For a few eternal seconds, Stacker thinks that means the drift will be easy. But then Herc's memories filter through, fossilized in relief against the backdrop of Chuck's clamoring thoughts. Stacker doesn't know if it's his presence that draws them out, but secondhand memories wash over him in a soothing, devastating tide.

Reccer's Notes: Stacker Pentecost lives! And it's a great fic with wonderful character development.

Fanwork Links: Don't Be a Hero
beatrice_otter: My home is not a place, it is people, sir. (Home is People)
[personal profile] beatrice_otter
Fandom: Shawshank Redemption
Pairings/Characters: Andy Dufresne, Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding
Rating: Gen
Length: 10k
Creator Links: [archiveofourown.org profile] syllic 
Theme: Black characters, competence, post-canon, platonic life partners, older characters, old fandoms, small fandoms, gen, future fic, friendship, characters of color

Summary: Five times Red got things in Zihuatanejo (and one time he didn’t need to get anything).

Reccer's Notes: This is such a wonderful tag for the movie. Red and Andy deserve the peace and quiet, and even where he doesn't speak the language Red's ability to find things and get things done shines through.

Fanwork Links: Bahamian-Style Mooring

Can I get a fandom tag for The Shawshank Redemption?
kingstoken: (Izzy Hands middle finger)
[personal profile] kingstoken
Fandom: Our Flag Means Death
Pairings/Characters: Izzy/Ed/Stede
Rating: E
Length: 8,358 words
Creator Links: Jack_R
Theme: competence

Summary: ‘Blackbeard said that,’ Izzy says. ‘Fucking Blackbeard told you to tell me to get you fucking pistachios.’

Reccer's Notes: Izzy is a bit of a miserable jerk in this story, but there are moments throughout this fic that show you that he really is a good sailor and pirate, and he has to explain things to Stede like you can't easily get food like pistachios in the Caribbean because they don't grow there naturally.  This story was written after season one, so Izzy is a rougher and missing some of the softness we witnessed in season two.

Fanwork Links: AO3
beatrice_otter: Tardis on a green field (Tardis)
[personal profile] beatrice_otter
Fandom: Doctor Who
Characters/Pairings: Cameca, 9th Doctor
Rating: Adult
Length: 750 words
Author Links:  Amy Wolf
Theme: indigenous characters, character of color, outsider perspective, old fandoms, rare pairings, older characters, minor characters, female characters,

Summary:  Cameca wore flowers in her hair every day after the Doctor left.

Reccer's Notes:  The First Doctor and Susan and Barbara and Ian had one of their best adventures in a serial called "The Aztecs."  As the title suggests, they traveled to the time and place of the Aztecs, and found themselves cut off from the TARDIS with Barbara worshiped as a god accidentally.  As they were figuring out how to get to the TARDIS, the Doctor became friends with (and accidentally proposed to) a woman named Cameca.  This is her story, after the Doctor and his companions left.  Bitter sweet, with an appearance from the 9th Doctor immediately post-Time War, with a gut-punch at the end.

Story Links:  Lady of the Flowers
merryghoul: fi the best (fi the best)
[personal profile] merryghoul
Fandom: Burn Notice
Pairings/Characters: Andre Watkins/Michael Westen, Larry Sizemore/Michael Westen, Sam Axe/Michael Westen, Fiona Glenanne/Michael Westen, Samantha Keyes/Michael Westen, Sam Axe/Fiona Glenanne/Michael Westen, Madeline Westen, Ricky Watkins
Rating: Explicit
Length: 25,390
Creator Links: [personal profile] sarcasticsra, [archiveofourown.org profile] sarcasticsra
Theme: big bangs, older characters, m/m/f threesome, competence, pre-canon, getting back together, polyamory, character development, team fics

Summary: "But in this career path, relationships and self-identity are not prioritized. While spies are trained to be able to ingratiate themselves with others, fooling strangers is a long way from the honesty and communication that people in relationships tend to expect. Combined with an emotionally stunted bedrock, navigating these waters can be ill-advised at best and downright dangerous at worst, often with little hope of success." And yet, despite everything, Michael Westen finds himself trying anyway.

Reccer's Notes: Written for the now defunct [community profile] queer_bigbang, this fic does a good job showcasing Michael's various relationships with people in Burn Notice, even if canon retconned some of these relationships in later years (especially with Samantha and her son). These relationships are more romantic and sexual than they are in canon, but they all lead to a personal revelation specifically in this fic. And in between the romantic and sexual stuff there are scenes where Michael, whether with or without his first Miami-based team of Sam, Fiona, and himself, is seen doing the spy craft he was known for during Burn Notice's run.

Content notes: The author has a content note for implied underage sexual content (between two minors) that occurs in the first chapter of this fic. Other content notes are in the content notes listed on Dreamwidth and the fic's tags.

Fanwork Links: Between Past and Present Tense: Dreamwidth, AO3
beatrice_otter: Jedi fighting against a blue background (blue Jedi)
[personal profile] beatrice_otter
Fandom: Star Wars
Pairings/Characters: Anakin Skywalker, Mace Windu
Rating: Gen
Length: 2829 words
Creator Links: [archiveofourown.org profile] ExtraPenguin 
Theme: AU, crack, fork in the road, bodyswap, gen, older characters, fixit

Summary: Anakin Skywalker is just about to to free his mother from the Tuskens when the Force rudely yanks him to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant – and into Mace Windu's body. Mace, on the other hand, gets tossed into Anakin's body on Tatooine.

Reccer's Notes: I love this fic for a lot of reasons. I like the way it writes Mace, and his perspective on Anakin and Shmi, and what a more experienced Jedi could have done in that situation. I like the humor in Depa and Mace's relationship. I like the way it deals with a rather less pretty view of Shmi's situation with Cliegg Lars than most fics dare to.

Fanwork Links: No Death, Only the Force
beatrice_otter: Jedi fighting against a blue background (blue Jedi)
[personal profile] beatrice_otter
Fandom: Star Wars
Pairings/Characters: Shmi Skywalker, Beru Whitesun
Rating: T
Length: Completed first plot arc, 77k words
Creator Links: [archiveofourown.org profile] MirandaTam 
Theme: fixit, AU, fork in the road, everyone lives, older characters, novel length, minor characters, gen, competence, women being awesome, female characters,

Summary: Passion, yet serenity.

Shmi leaves Tatooine with Anakin and goes to the Jedi Temple.

Reccer's Notes: I love this because of the way it foregrounds the women characters that the series mostly ignores, and gives them the agency to change things.

Note: the series as a whole is 238k long and still a WIP. But the first four stories are complete and come to a satisfying end, covering everything from Phantom Menace through Attack of the Clones, so that's what I'm reccing.

Fanwork Links: Jedi Shmi AU
beatrice_otter: Elrond and a line of Elves, ready for battle (Elven warriors)
[personal profile] beatrice_otter
Fandom: silmarillion
Pairings/Characters: Nerdanel, Anairë and Eärwen
Rating: teen
Length: 48k
Creator Links:[archiveofourown.org profile] Dialux 
Theme: fix-it, AU, female characters, fork in the road, book fandoms, competence, gen, genius in action, old fandoms, older characters, psychic powers, road trips, small fandoms, telepathy, women being awesome, 

Summary: Well, thinks Nerdanel. Well. It isn’t as if she has much faith in her own sons’ abilities to make decisions now, not after she spent a lifetime trying to instill independence in them and they all still followed their father into the teeth of ruin and grief.

[The fix-it fic where Nerdanel, Anairë and Eärwen sneak out of Aman to steal some Silmarils because wars don't always need to be won by armies.]

Reccer's Notes: There is so much heartbreaking stuff in the Silmarillion, so many great tragedies, some of them for good reasons and some of them for stupid reasons, as over and over again people who are capable of great kindness and wisdom fall prey to their worst instincts, to the powers of evil, to the stupid oath they swore without understanding what they were doing. And most of the wives and mothers of the people doing the stupid things are back in Aman, in safety, knowing almost nothing of what their kin are getting up to in their ill-fated quest.

This story changes that. This story gives them a voice and a chance to say, no, this is stupid, we're going to be smart, we're going to use magic and trickery and the fact that nobody expects this to save the day. And it works.

Fanwork Links: here's to the strongest fighter, here's to the last survivor
beatrice_otter: Tardis on a green field (Tardis)
[personal profile] beatrice_otter
Fandom: Doctor Who
Pairings/Characters: The Doctor
Rating: gen
Length: 3:37
Creator Links: [personal profile] trelkez 
Theme: amnesty, fanvid, old fandoms, older characters, friendship, families of choice, gen,

Summary: Hello. I'm the Doctor.

Reccer's Notes: This is a vid about building relationships and friendships that change and end. Companions meet the Doctor, they become very close, they have a lot of adventures and a lot of fun ... and then either they leave or the Doctor regenerates. Nothing lasts forever, but the relationships are worth it anyway.

Fanwork Links: Take On Me (original DW page with download link), Take On Me (youtube)
beatrice_otter: Sinclair--Not to Yield (Not to yield)
[personal profile] beatrice_otter
Fandom: Babylon 5
Pairings/Characters: Londo Mollari, G'Kar
Rating: teen
Length: 2:35
Creator Links: [personal profile] thingswithwings 
Theme: amnesty, fanvid, old fandoms, character development, enemies working together, friendship, interspecies stories, older characters, small fandoms,

CN: Contains violence, graphic scenes of torture (including whipping), and some blood.

Summary: Where I go, he goes. And where he goes, I go.

Reccer's Notes: Normally, vids to music without lyrics don't impress me much, because so much of the meaning is the interplay between lyrics and clips. This one, however, is so well done that the visuals carry the narrative themselves. We see the whole path of Londo and G'Kar through the series, their character development as individuals and as narrative foils and as enemies and as friends, and how all the parallels fit together.

Fanwork Links: Binary Orbit
beatrice_otter: Mystique in X-Men gear from First Class (Mystique)
[personal profile] beatrice_otter
Fandom: X-Men
Pairings/Characters: Charles/Erik
Rating: k+
Length: 4:03
Creator Links: [personal profile] arefadedaway, [youtube.com profile] heartsofkyber 
Theme: fun, old fandoms, superpowers, psychic powers, older characters, fanvid

Summary: "And I will always be there, old friend." Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr, from beginning to end.

Reccer's Notes: This is a wonderfully edited vid with a great song choice. "We could have had it all" is such a perfect refrain for these two who cared about each other so much and spent their entire adult lives on opposite sides of a war of their own creation.

Fanwork Links: Rolling in the Deep. (original page with notes can be found here.)
beatrice_otter: Elizabeth Bennet reads (Reading)
[personal profile] beatrice_otter
Fandom: Pride and Prejudice
Pairing: Elizabeth Bennet/Fitzwilliam Darcy
Length: 99,272 words
Author Links:  [personal profile] shem, at the Darbyshire Writer's Guild
Theme: novel-length, female characters, fork in the road, older characters, family, kidfic (has kids), old fandoms, book fandoms, marriage,

Summary: The death of Elizabeth’s husband upends her world, and forces her to confront her past. In doing so, she has to come to terms with the fact that making amends with her estranged family might bring her back into the sphere of a man she thought she had long forgotten.

Reccer's Notes: There are a million P&P fanfic AUs out there. This is one of my favorites, because it has a different premise from the rest: instead of telling one of a thousand variations of, say, the proposal in Hunsford or the Netherfield Ball, this one is set twenty years in the future. Elizabeth and Darcy married other people, and have had full lives. Now, they're both widowed, and meet again. I like how the author has treated the characters--they're still the same people we know, but matured and grown.

Story Links: The End is Where We Start From
beatrice_otter: Giles would like to test that theory. (Test That Theory)
[personal profile] beatrice_otter
Fandom: Ted Lasso
Pairings/Characters: Ted Lasso/Rebecca Welton
Rating: Mature
Length: 71k
Creator Links: [archiveofourown.org profile] greyathena 
Theme: fork in the road AU, friends to lovers, older characters, slow burn

Summary: For reasons known only to himself, AFC Richmond owner Rupert Mannion suddenly fires his manager and hires an American football coach who knows nothing about the game. Rupert's wife has no idea what could be going through his head. She also has no idea that she's about to have the worst - and then maybe the best - year of her life, and that the new manager is going to be her saving grace.

Reccer's Notes: This is such an interesting look at what might have been, how things might have been different if the beginning premise of the series (Ted getting set up to kill the club) had been set up by Richard instead of Rebecca. Very well written.

Fanwork Links: All the Difference

Can we get a Ted Lasso tag?

beatrice_otter: Mystique in X-Men gear from First Class (Mystique)
[personal profile] beatrice_otter
Fandom: X-Men Movies
Pairings/Characters: Charles/Erik
Rating: Teen
Length: 3:34
Creator Links: [personal profile] stardust_rain 
Theme: fanvids, telepathy, superpowers, older characters, old fandoms, enemies working together,

Summary: tried sweet talk, tried dynamite, but I sleepwalk back to the battle site.

Notes: some fast cuts, canon-typical violence

Reccer's Notes: "Matches to Paper Dolls" by Dessa is the ultimate ode to obsessive, self-destructive love that just won't quit. Which makes it the perfect song for Charles and Erik. This vid is a perfect blend of the Patrick Stewart and Ian Mckellen movies with First Class. I can't quite tag this as "enemies to friends to lovers" because Charles and Erik went the opposite direction ... without ever losing one iota of their care and obsession for one another.

Fanwork Links: Matches to Paper Dolls
beatrice_otter: Han and Leia--Kiss (Han and Leia)
[personal profile] beatrice_otter
Fandom: Star Wars Original Trilogy, The Force Awakens
Pairings/Characters: Han/Leia, Luke, Poe, Finn, Rey, Chewie
Rating: Teen
Length: 3:51
Creator Links: [archiveofourown.org profile] Trelkez 
Theme: fanvids, found family, older characters, old fandoms, friendship,

Summary: Oh, things have changed.

Reccer's Notes: This vid was made in 2017, back when The Force Awakens had just come out. It's a beautiful, bittersweet look at how things had changed and were still the same between the OT and TFA.

Fanwork Links: Running for Cover
beatrice_otter: Tardis on a green field (Tardis)
[personal profile] beatrice_otter
Fandom: Doctor Who
Pairings/Characters: Doctor/River Song
Rating: gen
Length: 2:06
Creator Links: [archiveofourown.org profile] diannelamerc 
Theme: fanvids, time travel, heists and capers, older characters, science fiction

Summary: It's River. He'll never not miss her...

Reccer's Notes: The thing about the Doctor's relationship with River is, he's known from the very beginning how it will end. He knows how and when she dies. Even as he fell in love with her, he knew the ending. Which makes "Cups (When I'm Gone)" the perfect song for his perspective on their relationship, and this is edited so beautifully.

Fanwork Links: Cups (When I'm Gone)
bonibaru: boot heel! (Default)
[personal profile] bonibaru
Fandom: Our Flag Means Death
Pairings/Characters: Stede Bonnet, Ed/Stede
Rating: Teen & up
Length: 3:12
Creator Links: [archiveofourown.org profile] Tafadhali
Theme: Fanvids

Summary: I set a course for a new shore / It looked the same as the one before / And I forgot what I'd been sailing for / And why I thought this time would be different | A Stede Bonnet character study. I’ve been looking for an excuse to vid this song for YEARS and then there’s a show about a literal captain on a literal boat who is out of his depths and has issues around abandoning people?? Amazing.

Reccer's Notes: Once in a while the Universe gifts vidders with the perfect match of character and song. This is one of those times. The song takes its singer on a journey that aligns with Stede's own, a journey rife with the struggles of trying your best, failing, and trying again, until finally one day you hear that blessed cry: Land ho! And really, who among us hasn't been there? Every time I watch this vid, I clutch my hands to my chest and can't stop smiling.

Fanwork Links: New Shore on AO3
stepps: ([misc] coffee and clouds)
[personal profile] stepps
Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe: Captain America
Pairings/Characters: Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes
Rating: T
Length: 64326 words
Creator Links: [archiveofourown.org profile] owlet, [tumblr.com profile] vmohlere
Theme: comfortfic, hurt/comfort, found families, epic works, older characters, character development, competence, pining, minor characters, friendship

Summary: The mission resets abruptly, from objective: kill to objective: protect

Reccer's Notes: What is there to say?! This is possibly the first fic I think of anytime I consider what Captain America fic would I rec, and I don't think anyone who's read any CA fic would not have read it. Bucky struggles to find himself, and a new mission, and along the way finds a home, a family, and friends. I just had a look back over the fic and wow, so many people love this one! The sheer number of collections it's been added to, and works inspired by the fic is just amazing! The fandom loves this fic, it is warm and soft and sassy and sweet and I could read it again and again. And the best part of cause is that it's just the beginning of the Infinite Coffee and Protection Detail series.

Perhaps the Fic trailer by [archiveofourown.org profile] shirasade would be a good place to start if you haven't read this fic and think you might like to. And then chose your fic version below!

Fanwork Links: This, You Protect
Infinite Coffee and Protection Detail Series
Требуется прикрытие Russian translation by [archiveofourown.org profile] Sangrill
Küldetése: Védelem Magyar translation by [archiveofourown.org profile] AritaReal
This, You Protect French translation by [archiveofourown.org profile] Lanae
[Podfic] This, You Protect by [archiveofourown.org profile] DustySoul
(PODFIC) This, You Protect by Owlet by [archiveofourown.org profile] AvidReaderLady
22degreehalo: (SPN silhouette "Always find you")
[personal profile] 22degreehalo
Fandom: Metal Gear Solid
Pairings/Characters: Solid Snake/Otacon
Rating: R (warning for major character death)
Length: 9.1k
Creator Links: [livejournal.com profile] what_we_dream
Theme: Clones & Doppelgangers, Future Fic, Older Characters, Plotty Fic, Science Fiction, Trope Subversion & Inversion

Summary: "This is science? Screwing with men's lives, tinkering and fiddling and twisting until something snaps?"

In this galaxy, there's a mathematical probability of three million Earth-type planets. And in all of the universe, three million million galaxies like this. And in all of that, and perhaps more, only one of each of us. Dr. Leonard McCoy.

Reccer's Notes: I loved Athena Crikey's works before I ever played Metal Gear Solid, and now that I have played them, I enjoy them even more. She has an amazing knack for taking premises that perfectly fit the distinctive world of the MGS series, but zooming in on the human and emotional element that the games can't really dig into. This fic in particular stuck with me all this time as a deeply unique fanfic - one which takes a premise that in other circumstances could have been fluffy or smutty, but playing it with all the horror and trauma that such a situation really would bring about in the game's canon.

Fanwork Links: Only One of Each of Us

(I'll need a fandom tag for Metal Gear Solid, please!)
sinesofinsanity: For moments of being gobsmacked (WHAT)
[personal profile] sinesofinsanity
Fandom: Gravity Falls
Pairings/Characters: Stan Pines, Ford Pines, Fiddleford McGucket, Bill Cipher, Soos Ramirez, Mabel Pines, Dipper Pines
Rating: Gen
Length: 72,769 words
Creator Links: WDW
Theme: Novel-length fics, AU (supernatural), (Not Really) Character death, Family, Older Characters, 

Summary:
Thirty years ago, Stanley Pines made a deal. Now, in the wake of Bill's defeat and his brother's disappearance, Ford begins to unravel Stan's secrets.

Reccer's Notes:
This fic takes the cryptic warning of "STAN IS NOT WHAT HE SEEMS" and runs hard with it. In the wake of Weirdmaggeddon Stan hems and haws about going monster hunting with Ford, then vanishes. The first few chapters alternate between Ford in 2012 trying to find his suddenly missing brother (aided occasionally by a neurotic Fiddleford and a distressed Soos) and Stan in 1982 trying to figure out Ford's portal and running afoul of some sort of extradimensional monstrosity (could it be Bill?? He's in the character tags, it's Bill). I've tagged this as "Supernatual AU" because the story goes a lot more into the extra-dimensional weirdness than the show did and does it so well! What happened to Stan is deliciously horrifying, and there's a great suspense build as Ford slowly figures it out.

One note, the story uses the author's OC version of Shermie Pines as a minor character, in this version she's Stan and Ford's younger sister, which may be a bit jarring to fans who are used to other versions of Shermie. It's not critical to the story though which focuses on Stan and Ford, their relationship, and what it all means tied together with some canon-typical mind-bending horror.

There's also a shorter (but still 18,055 words) AU of this AU called "A Diverging In The Wood" where Weirdmaggeddon happens a little differently. That one lets Dipper and Mabel shine a bit more and features Wendy being snarky, Soos being the absolute best, Bill being dramatic, and a little bit of redemption for Gideon so it get's an honourable mention here.

Fanwork Links: A Thousand Natural Shocks on AO3
beatrice_otter: Vader and Leia (Vader and Leia)
[personal profile] beatrice_otter
Fandom: Star Wars
Pairings/Characters: Darth Vader/Tarkin
Rating: Explicit
Length: 275k words
Creator Links: [archiveofourown.org profile] soulshrapnel 
Theme: novel-length, rare pairing, telepathy, older characters, epic works, disability, competence, character development, bdsm,

Summary: Darth Vader has, at some point, discovered BDSM. When his schedule allows, he's been spending time at a very discreet sex club somewhere in the Outer Rim, where he has his pick of the Empire's starstruck submissives. But even in a risk-aware consensual context, intimacy with a man like Vader can be a perilous undertaking. Grand Moff Tarkin thinks he's up to the challenge.

Reccer's Notes: I am not normally a villain stan, I don't tend to go for dark or supremely messed-up stories about terrible people. But this series is SO GOOD, you guys, I couldn't stop reading even though it wasn't normally my thing. These are both terrible people, who have done and continue to do terrible things. They are both messed up in different ways. And yet, together, there's something almost sweet in the trust and care they show for each other. And it's a compelling picture of intimacy between these two men, and what they see in one another, and how they grow together as a couple.

Fanwork Links: Playing With Fire
beatrice_otter: WWII soldier holding a mug with the caption "How about a nice cup of RESEARCH?" (Research)
[personal profile] beatrice_otter
Fandom: MASH
Characters/Pairings: Charles Emerson Winchester III/Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce, Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan,
Rating: teen
Length: 10k words
Creator Links:[personal profile] fawatson 
Theme: post-canon, older characters, old fandoms, small fandoms, future fic, kidfic

Summary: Charles reminiscences.

Reccer's Notes: In this story, Charles has achieved everything he dreamed of in Korea, except he's head of Oncology rather than Cardio-Thoracic surgery. Margaret Houlihan becomes his patient just as Hawkeye comes to visit and stay with him while he's at a conference, prompting many reminiscences of the old days in Korea. The characterization is just lovely, Charles in particular is so perfectly captured.

Fanwork Links: Secrets and Lies
runpunkrun: drawing of two astronauts floating in space and holding hands, a red cartoon heart floating up between them (i love the whole world)
[personal profile] runpunkrun
Fandom: The Expanse (TV)
Characters/Pairings: Chrisjen Avasarala
Rating: G
Creator Link: [archiveofourown.org profile] mific
Theme: Underloved Fanworks, Characters of Color, Older Characters

Summary: Avasarala at the UN HQ.

Reccer's Notes: Avasarala is one of my favorite characters, and mific does an incredible job with her wise, weary face, ornate jewelry, and elaborate wardrobe. Underloved because Expanse has never been recced on the comm before!

Fanwork Links: Chrisjen Avasarala
beatrice_otter: Poirot: Little Grey Cells (Little Grey Cells)
[personal profile] beatrice_otter
Fandom: Dracula/Miss Marple
Characters/Pairings: Jane Marple, Abraham Van Helsing
Rating: Gen
Length: 758 words
Author Links:  [personal profile] thisbluespirit 
Theme: crossover, competence, female characters, pre-AO3, book fandoms, small fandoms, vampires, older characters, fixit,

Summary: Two genre legends meet. The outcome is inevitable. Someone really should have warned the Count never to trifle with fluffy old ladies.

Reccer's Notes: I have recced this before, but it was years ago and this is still one of the best crossovers I've ever read. Miss Marple is AWESOME. 'Nuff said. My only complaint is that this story is far too short; I would happily read many thousands of words of Miss Marple owning everyone.

Story Links:  So We Meet Again

Somehow, when I recced it the last time Miss Marple didn't get a fandom tag, and no other Miss Marple fics have been recced in the years since.
beatrice_otter: An inherent cultural passtion for things that go "boom" (Boom)
[personal profile] beatrice_otter
Fandom: Labyrinth/Harry Potter
Characters/Pairings: Augusta Longbottom, Jareth
Rating: gen
Length: 1916 words
Creator Links: [archiveofourown.org profile] Ankaret 
Theme: crossover, older characters, old fandoms, minor characters, gen,

Summary: For lurkingcat, who gave me the plotbunny when she said There's going to be a very unhappy Goblin out there if Neville's got that sword...

And where there are goblins, there are Goblin Kings.

Reccer's Notes: Great idea for a crossover, well executed, and I love the way Augusta Longbottom is written.

Fanwork Links: Lost Property
beatrice_otter: I don't want to be killed because of a typo.  It would be embarrassing. (Typo)
[personal profile] beatrice_otter
Fandom: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse/Murder She Wrote
Characters/Pairings: Miles Morales, May Parker, Jessica Fletcher
Rating: gen
Length: 1163 words
Creator Links: [archiveofourown.org profile] gloss 
Theme: crossovers/fusions, small fandoms, secret identities, older characters, old fandoms, competence, characters of color

Summary: Miles and May visit her old friend Jessica in Cabot Cove.

Reccer's Notes: The characterization is spot-on perfect, and it's a lot of fun.

Fanwork Links: Spider She Wrote

Can I get a Murder, She Wrote tag?
beatrice_otter: Tardis on a green field (Tardis)
[personal profile] beatrice_otter
Fandom: Doctor Who
Characters/Pairings: Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart/The Doctor
Rating: Teen
Length: 9398 words
Creator Links: [archiveofourown.org profile] copperbadge [tumblr.com profile] copperbadge 
Theme: domestic, competence, older characters, rare pairings,

Summary: The Brigadier was always a companion on his own terms.

Reccer's Notes: The Eleventh Doctor drops goes looking for his old friend the Brigadier, and finds him a year after the Fourth Doctor left him. But Alistair isn't going to settle for anything quick or short: if they're going to pick up where they left off, they're going to make a commitment and build a life together. And the Doctor--older, tireder, more careworn than he was when he worked for UNIT--agrees. This is from the Brigadier's perspective, but you don't have to know much about him if you're not a Classic Who fan because the story tells you everything you need. It's a wonderful perspective on the Doctor and domesticity.  Would the Doctor ever be content to be permanently settled in one place?  No.  But when you're 900 years old, a decade here or there isn't that great a sacrifice.

Fanwork Links: In Geneva
beatrice_otter: Peggy Carter handcuffed to a table (Peggy Carter)
[personal profile] beatrice_otter
Fandom: Captain America
Characters/Pairings: Peggy/Steve
Rating: explicit
Length: 27k0 words
Creator Links: [archiveofourown.org profile] indiefic [personal profile] indiefic 
Theme: domestic, older characters, female characters, fork in the road AU, family, marriage

Summary: Set in 1974. Peggy is the fifty-five year old director of SHIELD and Steve's been found and thawed out.

Reccer's Notes: This is a great take on what might have happened had Steve been thawed out while Peggy was still active in her prime. There's a little bit of action, but mostly it's about Steve and Peggy figuring out what they want to be to one another, and how to be together given their now very different stages of life and experiences.

Fanwork Links: Mind the Gap
meretricula: (Default)
[personal profile] meretricula
Fandom: Harry Potter
Characters/Pairings: Minerva McGonagall
Rating: Teen & Up
Length: 3:45
Creator Links: [personal profile] chaila
Theme: Gen, Female Characters, Older Characters

Summary: "Come over here, kid, we've got all these books to read." Professor Minerva McGonagall, memory, war, resistance and hope.

Reccer's Notes: I am incapable of watching this without crying! I literally just watched this on a plane and sat there sniffling and wiping my eyes in front of a complete stranger. If you've ever had a feeling about children being turned into soldiers in Harry Potter -- the way Dumbledore set Harry up to be sacrificed right from the beginning, the way Draco was screwed over by who his parents were, the way Neville never had parents to begin with, the way Hermione had to erase herself from her parents' life -- you should watch this vid. Seeing the kids grow up through McGonagall's eyes is a brilliant choice of frame, and the song (which is explicitly about being an adult working with orphans and child soldiers) is perfectly suited, too.

Fanwork Links: I Am the One Who Will Remember Everything
wendelah1: (Star Trek Discovery - Michael Burnham)
[personal profile] wendelah1
Fandom: Star Trek Discovery
Characters/Pairings: Michael Burnham/Gabriel Lorca
Rating: Explicit
Length: 42,304 (plus a 64,720 word sequel that doesn't fit the theme)
Creator Links: [archiveofourown.org profile] LadyFangs | https://www.fanfiction.net/u/1999083/LadyFangs
Theme: huddling for warmth, older characters, au: fork in the road, science fiction

Summary: Michael Burnham and Captain Gabriel Lorca are abducted from the U.S.S. Discovery. They're imprisoned by an alien race whose motives remain unknown...until they are.

Burnham and Lorca only rely on each other, and captivity brings them closer together and makes them confess to feelings long repressed. With days becoming weeks, and weeks to months, they come to accept their new reality, together and with each other. But when rescue arrives, they struggle to re-adapt, and come to realize that what happened between them on that planet can't, and won't, be forgotten.

Reccer's Notes: I rarely read, let alone rec hurt/comfort fic, with or without the protagonists being abducted by aliens. Nevertheless I took a chance on LadyFang's fic and I am so glad that I did. The physical torture isn't graphically described and the build-up to their relationship is surprisingly believable, especially since I didn't start out shipping the characters. I think I kind of might now, at least when she's writing them. She's a strong writer with a direct, uncomplicated style. And as she says in the intro to a new fic she's working on (Joe Miller/Octavia Muss - The Expanse OMIGOD be still my beating heart), she is "a glutton for tragic, doomed couples, unrequited love, and all the pain and heartache that comes with it." She's a doomed ship shipper!

Is this the first Star Trek: Discovery rec at [community profile] fancake?

Fanwork Links: Human Nature
beatrice_otter: Luna Lovegood, Hermione Granger, Cho Chang (Girls of Potter)
[personal profile] beatrice_otter
Fandom:  Harry Potter
Characters: Irma Pince, Dolores Umbridge, the Weasley Twins
Length:  1945 words
Author: Mosylu
Theme:  Female characters, older characters, pre-AO3, minor characters, competence

Summary:  A librarian's job is never done . . . especially not at Hogwarts . . . and especially when a certain toadlike High Inquisitor is nosing around. This story was written prior to the release of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince."

Reccer's Notes:   We don't see much of Irma Pince in canon, but oh, she comes to life here!  I love the description of her daily duties (Hogwarts' library being similar to, and yet quite distinct from, libraries with which we may be familiar).  I love her ... discussion with Umbridge.  And I love the end.  Librarians FTW!

Story Links: Desk Duty
beatrice_otter: Miss Piggy in a superhero costume: Were you looking for flying pigs? (Were you looking for flying pigs?)
[personal profile] beatrice_otter
Fandom: The Incredibles
Characters/Pairings: Edna Mode
Rating: gen
Length: short
Author Links:  [personal profile] alianora 
Theme: small fandoms, female characters, pre-AO3, fandom classic, superheroes, older characters,

Summary: It's just Edna, darling. When are you coming to see me?

Reccer's Notes: For some reason, Edna Mode is the most popular Incredibles character for ficcing. I would never write an Edna Mode story because this one already took the gold star for awesome, and what could possibly be added? Sharp, witty, and I can hear the character speak the words.

Story Links:  Fabulous
beatrice_otter: Batman Beyond (Terry Batman)
[personal profile] beatrice_otter
Fandom: Batman Beyond
Characters/Pairings: Terry McGinnis, Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake
Rating: Gen
Length: 10,798 words
Creator Links: [archiveofourown.org profile] Liviapenn 
Theme: pre-AO3, secret identities, old fandoms, older characters,

Summary: "The difference between you and me is, I'm not you." Bruce and Terry cope, after the end of "Return of the Joker."

Reccer's Notes: There's so much to love about this fic. There's the way Liviapenn has perfectly captured all the character voices. There's the mini-adventure on patrol that might have come straight out of an episode. But most of all, there is a Bruce finally dealing with some of his issues. Not all at once, not suddenly becoming a different person with them, but facing a little bit of the things he has kept himself from thinking about.

Fanwork Links: Come build in the empty house
beatrice_otter: Luna Lovegood, Hermione Granger, Cho Chang (Girls of Potter)
[personal profile] beatrice_otter
Fandom: Harry Potter
Characters/Pairings: Severus Snape, Dobby
Rating: gen
Length: medium
Creator Links: 
Theme: AU, pre-ao3, future-fic, older character, disability,

Summary: After the war, injured veteran Severus Snape buys property.

Reccer's Notes: Snape, disabled by the war (but alive and still as sour as ever) buys an old house in the country and retires there.  Dobby shows up with the (former) Malfoy house elves, whom nobody wants.  Together, they settle into a quiet domestic life.  I'm pretty sure this was written before the last book came out, so the fact that Snape lives isn't a fixit, but it's probably the best realistic thing that could have happened to Snape if he hadn't died.  He's got a place of his own, with a lab for research, no students, no masters, nobody he doesn't want to see, but enough company to not be lonely.  There's lots of lovely domesticity, and his disability is very well-written.

Fanwork Links: A Man of Property
jainas: (denial)
[personal profile] jainas
Fandom: Star Wars
Characters/Pairings:  Han/Leia, Ben
Rating: M
Length: 15 701 words
Creator Links: Luna
Theme: (five) things, established relationship, family, older characters

Summary: Five times Han and Leia said goodbye.

Reccer's Notes: A "Headcanon accepted" kind of fic, with all the banter, the fights, the choices mades that may not be the right one but were the best they could do at the time, but also all the love and familiarity one can expect from this pairing.

Fanwork Links: Singularities
imogeneherdman: (Default)
[personal profile] imogeneherdman
Fandom: Dishonored 2
Characters/Pairings: Corvo Attano/Aramis Stilton, Corvo Attano/Alexandria Hypatia, Emily Kaldwin
Rating: NC-17
Length: 52.3k
Creator Links: [archiveofourown.org profile] hobbitdragon
Theme: Small Fandoms, Hurt/Comfort, Older Characters

Summary: Forced into retirement by Emily, Corvo returns to Serkonos. He expects the usual plots and intrigue. He doesn't expect to get entangled with both of his generous hosts, Aramis and Alexandria.

This fic also known as my rarepair idfic for Corvo, who desperately needs a rest and doesn't allow himself any, plus two of my other favorite characters.

Reccer's Notes: I have a weird respect for this fic. It does a few things that I don't really like, but it's such a quality work and definitely worth sharing.

Fanwork Links: The Trap of Empathy
meretricula: (Default)
[personal profile] meretricula
Fandom: Hockey RPF
Characters/Pairings: Paul Kariya/Sirpa Selanne/Teemu Selanne
Rating: Explicit
Length: 27k
Creator Links: [archiveofourown.org profile] thefourthvine
Theme: Amnesty, Bodyswap, Disability, Family, Kidfic: Has/With Kids, M/M/F Threesomes, Mythical Creatures: Elves (how do we not have a tag for elves?), Older Characters, Threesome, Urban Fantasy

Summary: Teemu Selanne's midlife crisis: leftover elf parts.

Reccer's Notes: TEEEEEEEMU. (Gotta get it out of the way.) So if you, like me, were into all the nineties era Mercedes Lackey et al. fantasy novels where there were elves but they just kinda hung out in the real world occasionally banging humans: you're going to love this fic, it's like that only well-written. If you're not into nineties urban fantasy, I don't know what's wrong with you, but you will still love this fic, because it's also a beautiful tropefest that then looks at what the tropes really mean and your mind will be blown while also still loving your favorite trope because it is that great. It's a bodyswap fic, and it has all the "oh no my body doesn't work the way I think it will -- on no my body is HOT" trope-y goodness you expect, but it also doesn't shy away from talking about bodies in a way that isn't necessarily sexy. Paul has post-concussion syndrome and that (as well as the coping mechanisms that he's evolved to deal with it) hugely affects his daily life, in ways that only really become clear once he's in Teemu's body and is still trying to cope with a condition that isn't actually affecting him. I've also literally never seen bodyswap used to explore the question of whether sexuality is in the mind or the body before (I don't want to spoil how this goes down, but it's not sad, I promise). Teemu's family feature prominently, not as plot moppets but as interesting characters in their own right. And at the heart of it all is the idea of a friendship strong enough that you'd give somebody else your body, not knowing if you'd ever get it back, because you love and trust them so much, which is just... ugh, so good. The best. If you want to have a lot of feelings about a near-hermit introvert who understands way too much about self-sacrifice but needs to learn how much people (including but not limited to his extroverted golden retriever of a best friend and his wife) love him, grab your tissues and dive in.

Fanwork Links: You So Quite New
beatrice_otter: BSG's Six with red Cylon eyes (Six)
[personal profile] beatrice_otter
Fandom: BSG
Characters/Pairings: Saul Tigh/Ellen Tigh
Rating: PG
Length: 4.20
Creator Links: [livejournal.com profile] tli 
Theme: robots and AI, amnesia, older characters,

Summary: "My name is Saul Tigh. I am an officer in the Colonial Fleet... that's the man I want to be."

Reccer's Notes: When the Final Five learned they were Cylons, they had a lot of choices to make about who they were going to be and where their loyalties lay, whether with the Humans or with the Cylons. This is about Saul's choice, and how the events in his life (both before and after he knew the truth) shaped him. Really evocative.

Fanwork Links: Freedom
beatrice_otter: Star Trek symbol--red background (Red Shirt)
[personal profile] beatrice_otter
Fandom: Star Trek Voyager
Characters/Pairings: Janeway/Tuvok
Rating: teen
Length: 8,870 words
Creator Links:
Theme: interspecies pairing, friends to lovers, rare pairing, older characters, old fandoms, first time, female characters, courtship, character of color,

Summary: After Voyager's return, Janeway and Tuvok build a future together.

Reccer's Notes: disclaimer, I betaed this fic, but there really wasn't anything to improve on because it's so well done.  Janeway is frustrated on Earth as an Admiral, and Tuvok's wife remarried while everyone thought Voyager was destroyed.  Both are adrift, recovering from the accumulated stresses of the Delta Quadrant, and trying to figure out what comes next in their lives, both professionally and personally.  And they find it together, in a very sweet way.

Fanwork Links: Forward Momentum
jainas: (spock)
[personal profile] jainas

Fandom: Star trek reboot
Characters/Pairings: Jim/Spock
Rating: PG
Length: 14,195
Creator Links: what_alchemy
Theme: future fic, interspecies pairings, interspecies stories, marriage, older characters, hurt/comfort

Summary: At 103, Jim knows he can’t go through another pon farr.

Reccer's Notes: This is beautiful, bittersweet and the good kind of heartbreaking. I love the tenderness and love always apparent between them. This fic doesn't shy from the unglamorous aspects of aging, and explore what the differences in aging between their species can mean for them, but also other themes around interspecies pairings, as Spock work in a DNA studies reseaching the effects of cross-breeding between Vulcans and other species.

Fanwork Links: A Long-Standing Union
thady: (N&S  -  M & T)
[personal profile] thady
Fandom: Harry Potter
Characters/Pairings: Aunt Marge/Rita Skeeter
Rating: PG
Length: ~ 3,200 words
Creator Links: [livejournal.com profile] fluffyllama
Theme: amnesty, book fandoms, female characters, femslash, minor characters, older characters, rare pairing

Summary: Rita sets out on a tough assignment – to interview Miss Marjorie Dursley.

Reccer's Notes: This is a really interesting take on Rita Skeeter, and on Marge Dursley. I don't usually like Rita Skeeter, and this story made me feel sympathy for her, and it left me with the hope that it may yet work out for her.

Fanwork Links: No Charity.

dancing_serpent: (Hobbit - Galadriel/Gandalf)
[personal profile] dancing_serpent
Fandom: Tolkien J.R.R.
Pairings: Gandalf (Olórin)/Legolas
Rating: Explicit
Length: ~ 19,300 words
Author Links: [archiveofourown.org profile] Talullah
Theme: Worldbuilding, Rare Pairings, Older Characters, First Time, Old Fandoms, Pining

Summary: A long path to happiness...

Reccer's Notes: I can't tell you how happy I was to find a Gandalf/Legolas slash fic, and not only PWP, but with a really nice plot and relationship development, too!

Story Links: Drawn in the Air @ AO3
dancing_serpent: (Photos - Highgate - Winterangel)
[personal profile] dancing_serpent
Fandom: Forever
Pairing: Abigail Morgan/Henry Morgan
Rating: General Audiences
Length: ~ 1,900 words
Author Links: [archiveofourown.org profile] darklyndsea
Theme: Outsider POV, Older Characters, Humour, Marriage

Summary: Lucas, Jo, and Hanson react to the return of Henry's 94 year old wife.

Reccer's Notes: I really enjoyed reading this. Everyone's reactions were priceless, and I could so see that - once you're as old as Abigail, you don't give a damn what others think.

Story Links: The Return of Abigail Morgan @ AO3

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