fancake | Entries tagged with theme: plotty fic

Fandom: Mega Man (Cartoon 1994)
Pairings/Characters: Mega Man & Proto Man, Mega Man & Roll
Rating: Teen and Up Audiences
Length: 342,087
Creator Links: BlackRussian on FFN and BlackRussian on Ao3
Theme:
Siblings, Action/Adventure, Enemies Working Together, Plotty Fic, Series, Science Fiction, Gateway Fanworks, Epic Works
Summary:
Fighting Dr. Wily while watching your rebellious sister is tough for anyone, even a robot. Add an evil brother who's determined for you to join his side (or else battle to see who's strongest), things get ugly. Retcon of the Ruby-Spears Mega Man cartoon.
Reccer's Notes:
An amazing AU take on the Ruby-Spears Mega Man cartoon from 1994 which adds heart and multiple intertwining subplots, as well as fixing major plot holes and including more background for various characters. The central character relationships are between Mega Man and his (evil?) older brother Proto Man, and Mega Man and his sister Roll, but there's plenty of background relationships that keep the story engaging, along with a lot of clever worldbuilding and cheesy moments to fit the original cartoon's tone. It's part of an ongoing series, but seasons 1-2 are complete.

Fanwork Links:
Read it here on Ao3 and here on FF.net

sinesofinsanity

Fandom: Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Pairings/Characters: Cody/Obi-Wan
Rating: Teen
Length: 5hrs (5:02:36)
Creator Links: PolynomialPandemic
Theme: Non-sexual Intimacy, cuddling snuggling & bed-sharing, didn't know they were dating, domestic, huddling for warmth, plotty fic, epic works,

Summary:
Crys hissed, sounding awed, “You slept with the General?”

Cody tugged his bucket down fast enough to hide a wince. In the light of dawn, with his head not so fogged and bleary from fatigue, it didn’t seem half as logical as it had the night before. But he’d be kriffed before he told Crys that. He said, tone even, “Couldn’t have him freezing to death. Let’s go.”

OR, the one where Cody starts sharing quarters with Obi-Wan a year into the Clone Wars, and it changes many things.

Reccer's Notes:
Cody and Obi-Wand share bed for completely practical reasons, and then forces (and the rest of the 212th) conspire to make them keep doing it. An absolutely gorgeous story about Cody and Obi-Wan settling into each other's space and fighting the war. I love how ever present the war is as this looming thing keeping them apart. I love how everyone around them either nudges them together or just immediately accepts them as a couple before they even realize it. I love how even though it takes Cody a *really* long time to realize what his feelings are and what they mean, their relationship is never anything but honest and supportive. Just a beautiful story and excellently performed by PolynomialPandemic.

Note glimmerglanger deleted all their fannish accounts a few years ago, meaning that the podfic is now the only way to access this story. Be nice to creators everyone.

Content Notes: Discussion of a suicide risk, discussion of past canon torture, head wounds, canonical character death, canon typical violence

Fanwork Links: Make Your Bed (Lie In It) on AO3

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

beatrice_otter

Fandom: SW Sequel Trilogy
Pairings/Characters: Finn/Poe
Rating: explicit
Length: 75k
Creator Links:
Theme: black characters, characters of color, AU, fixit, novel-length, road trips, plotty fic, action/adventure

Summary: “Shouldn’t you be taking it easy?”

Finn lowered his vibroblade, turning on his heel, and he grinned as Poe ambled over in his measured flyboy swagger. Damn but Finn sometimes wished that he could walk like that, like he could take any punches that the ‘verse wanted to throw and still come up tops. Finn had tried practicing once, in the room that the Resistance had given him after he’d woken up in the med-bay, but he had only managed to awkwardly trip over his own feet and had bruised his hip against his desk.

Reccer's Notes: This fic is a reworking of the Sequel Trilogy with Finn as the focus (and also Han survived). It's got a great action plot, but also a great perspective on Finn, and some of the problems inherent in the Resistance and how the galaxy got this way and if violence can be the thing that changes it. Plus a great Finn/Poe relationship.

Fanwork Links: Petrichor

beatrice_otter

Fandom: Star Trek Voyager
Characters/Pairings: Ensemble
Rating: M
Length: 350K
Author Links:

macedon

peg
Theme: Indigenous character, worldbuilding, fandom classic, pre-AO3, AU, team fic, old fandom, novel length, epic, fork in the road AU, character development, characters of color, cultural differences, logistical fixit, plotty, series,

Summary: Chakotay and Tuvok develop a tentative friendship, set against the backdrop of a storytelling group which has grown up spontaneously on Voyager. As Kathryn Janeway tries to adjust to the changes if Voyager created by the presence of the story telling circle, she also tries to deal with her own beliefs about the nature of command... and to help Tom Paris through a rough spot in his own life.

Reccer's Notes: A remarkable "braided novel" of 8 novels and novellas. Too sprawling (in the grand sense) in scale and reach to reduce to a mere synopsis; let us just say that this is what Voyager could have been if TPTB had been willing to seriously deal with the implications of two enemy crews depending on one another, far from home, in a dangerous quadrant. With gripping plots and wonderful characterizations, Macedon and Peg tackled issues of faith, community, alienation and belonging, honest conflict between Maquis and Starfleet, and the realities of life far from home and safety, and all with discretion and grace. This series really explores what life and community are like on board Voyager in a way few fics do, making it into a community that feels real and has depth to it.

And it fits this rec category because Macedon (aka Little Otter) really leaned into Chakotay's heritage. The central premise that kicks off the fic is "what if Chakotay started a talking/storytelling circle in the pattern of several of the Native American tribes of the midwest?"

Story Links: Talking Stick/Circle

Also, Macedon wrote another wonderful Trek fic about an OC with Native American heritage who, after some trauma, goes to the reservation to heal, which I recced only 6 months ago. It's called Wisdom and Beauty and the rec is here.

beatrice_otter

Fandom: Torchwood
Pairings/Characters: Jack/Ianto
Rating: Explicit
Length: 100k
Creator Links:

demotu
Theme: time travel, old fandoms, established relationship, team as family, novel length, epic works, in space, heists and capers, going home, established relationship + plot, cultural differences, character development, canon LGBTQ+ characters, bisexual/pansexual characters, backstory, action/adventure, plotty

Summary: A time travelling, action-adventure, romance-filled science fiction romp ensues when Ianto runs into Jack in the fifty-first century after an accident with a vortex manipulator. Laser blasters, alien dance clubs, mercenaries, a little too much public sex for Ianto's tastes, sneaky plans and circular logic can be found here. Set after Something Borrowed, but not particularly "AU" (at least, at time of writing) it slots into season 2.

Reccer's Notes: Ah, those blissful days before the Children of Earth miniseries, when it was possible to believe that Torchwood wasn't just Awful Shit Happening To Characters You Love. This story has a wonderful time travel action plot, and it also has a wonderful emotion plot as Ianto and Jack (at various relative ages) deal with the complicated nature of time travel, cultural differences, and the ways in which both of them are sometimes a little messed up.

Fanwork Links: A Matter of Time

mific

Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Characters/Pairings: John Sheppard/Rodney McKay, Carson, Ronon, Teyla
Rating: Teen
Length: 18,771 and 17,738
Content Notes: nil of note
Creator Links: Liketheriver on AO3
Themes: Spies and assassins, Action/adventure, Hurt/comfort, Angst, Humor, Friends to lovers, First time

Summary: No, being a bodyguard isn’t glamorous; but, then again, I’m not your typical bodyguard. And Dr. Rodney McKay isn’t exactly your run of the mill, multimillionaire-industrialist-genius. and
If being a spy wasn't dangerous enough, Sheppard and McKay have to go and fall in love. Missing scenes and slash follow-up to Never Wanted to Dance (With Nobody But You).

Reccer's Notes: There are two fics in this series set in a spies & assassins AU where scientists and their assassin bodyguards work for a shady global organization called "Michael". John is supposed to kill Rodney, his protectee, to guard the organisation's secrets and power but of course he doesn't, and then they're both marked for termination and have to figure out an exit strategy while escaping from an ultra-powerful cabal with eyes everywhere. The first story's an all-action genfic from John's POV establishing their developing relationship, and the second is M/M, a remix and sequel from Rodney's POV. The series is a lot of fun, gripping, and a rollicking good read.

Fanwork Links: Never Wanted to Dance (With Nobody But You) and Never Say Never (I Might Like You Better If We Slept Together)

mific

Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Characters/Pairings: John Sheppard/Rodney McKay, Teyla Emmagan, Ronon Dex, Elizabeth Weir, Radek Zelenka, Jack O'Neill, Bill Lee, Vala Mal Doran, Bates, Biro, Evan Lorne
Rating: M
Length: 68,396
Content Notes: Contains major character death (not John or Rodney)
Creator Links: auburn on AO3
Theme: Spies and assassins, Action/adventure, Novel length, First time, Friends to lovers, AU: fork in the road, Plotty

Summary: O'Neill and Woolsey arrive in Atlantis along with SG-1. Shortly thereafter, Sheppard and McKay find themselves in a race to catch a murderer.

Reccer's Notes: This is a gripping murder mystery set on Atlantis, with bonus SG1 ~~interfering~~ helping out. It's long and plotty, and as well as the excellent action there's a gradually developing relationship between John and Rodney. I don't want to spoil you, but keep reading until the end as there's a surprise plot twist which is why I'm reccing it here. A great read, but darker than you might at first realize.

Fanwork Links: Judas Doesn't Answer

beatrice_otter

Fandom: Star Wars
Pairings/Characters: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Qui-Gon Jinn
Rating: teen
Length: 150k
Creator Links:

Killbothtwins
Theme: fixit, time travel fixit, au, series, plotty fic, novel length, epic, gen,

Summary: After the end of the war with the Empire, Obi-Wan wakes up in his twelve-year old body. Now all he needs to do is convince everyone he's psychic, trick his Master into taking him on before he's sent to Bandomeer, redeem a few bad guys, and try not to have a nervous breakdown. Pretty easy. It's not like the Sith are lurking on the horizon, waiting to devour the Jedi Order.

Reccer's Notes: I like this one because despite its similarities to other SW fixits, (Obi-wan travels back in time being a CLASSIC trope), it handles them differently and takes things off in a different direction. I particularly like how Shmi and Jango Fett get used.

Fanwork Links: the massive machinery of hope

mific

Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Characters: Genfic. John Sheppard, Rodney McKay, Evan Lorne, David Parrish, Richard Woolsey, Teyla Emmagan, Ronon Dex, OCs
Rating: Teen
Length: 45,680
Content Notes: Graphic depictions of violence, dystopian alien culture, prisoners of war, minor character deaths
Creator Links: Skinscript (infie) on AO3
Themes: action/adventure, dystopia, friendship, teams, worldbuilding, plotty fic, amnesty, science fiction, competence, genfic

Summary: While on an easy mission to an ally, the Atlantis gate teams disappear without a trace. Eight months later, Lorne returns to Atlantis with two injured team members, a counterfeit McKay, and no explanations.
This is a story of friendship, hardship, faith, and determination in the face of incredible odds.
Hard sci-fi with violence. No woobifications, no sexual situations.

Reccer's Notes: Slipping this in while it's still December somewhere. This is an amazingly well-written story, gripping and powerful. It starts full-on, with Lorne and a few members of the two gate teams lost for the past 8 months stepping back through the Stargate to Atlantis. But for John, Woolsey and those waiting, after they arrive things just get more baffling and worrying, and when John finally finds out what's happened to the teams, the reality's stranger then he could ever have imagined. This is one of the best gen sci-fi fics I've ever read, hands down. It follows John gradually finding out what the hell's going on, with the account of what happened eight months ago presented as another story, intercut with what's happening to John in the present. Evan, and especially Rodney, play major roles, with Rodney saving everyone several times over. John plays catch-up for the first half of the fic then gradually comes into his own as well, as he understands what they're up against. Don't be put off by the fact that it's gen or the mention of violence. It's no more so than many canon eps, and the way the captured gate teams work together and doggedly survive is wonderful. Peak fanfic.

Fanwork Links: Whipping Boy

mific

Fandom: Stargate Atlantis/SG1
Characters/Pairings: John Sheppard/Rodney McKay, Elizabeth Weir, Daniel Jackson, Samantha Carter, Kaleb Miller, Jeannie Miller, Ronon Dex, Teyla Emmagan, Cameron Michell, Radek Zelenka, Jack O'Neill, Daniel Jackson, Teal'c, Jolinar
Rating: M
Length: 53,208
Content Notes: Graphic depictions of violence, Christianity as another Goa'uld 'religion', First person POV
Creator Links: Martha on AO3
Theme: Alternate Universe (Historical-1950s), Action/Adventure, First time, Drama, Worldbuilding, Dystopia, Noir, Plotty fic

Summary: Struggling to make it as a private investigator in post-war Los Angeles, John Sheppard doesn't have the luxury of turning away paying customers. All the same, he should have thought twice before he accepted a job from one Dr. Rodney McKay.

Reccer's Notes: One for the amnesty. This SGA/SG1 AU story is a lasting favourite. It's a tour de force, managing both to be a sci-fi AU and an historical detective-noir AU. The writing's excellent, and the 1950s noir Philip Marlow-esque feel is very well done. It's in 1st person, from John's POV, like a Chandler novel. Gripping, and with amazing world-building - it's the only fic I know where Christianity is envisaged as yet another Goa'uld religion, as with the ancient Egyptian gods. I can't recommend it too strongly - it's one I go back to and re-read on a regular basis.

Fanwork Links: The Little Sister on AO3

mific

Fandom: Game of Thrones
Characters/Pairings: Jaime/Brienne/Margaery, Tywin/Catelyn, Robb/Cersei, Arya/Tommen, Jaime/Brienne, Brienne of Tarth/Margaery Tyrell, Jaime Lannister/Margaery Tyrell, Talisa Maegyr/Robb Stark, Tyrion Lannister, Bran Stark, Rickon Stark, Olenna Tyrell, etc.
Rating: Explicit
Length: 85,136
Content Notes: Typical GoT levels of violence but with more fix-its and no outright nastiness compared to canon. This is astolat so you know there'll be something verging on dubcon. Creator "chose not to warn".
Creator Links: Astolat on AO3
Theme: Politics, Enemies to lovers, plotty fic, novel-length, threesome, polyamory, fix-it, diplomatic marriage, everybody lives/nobody dies (except Joffrey, good riddance), action/adventure.

Summary: Robb Stark had swept his entire hand of cards off the table, and Tyrion couldn’t see how to make a single play at all.

Reccer's Notes: Astolat has gone from strength to strength with her GoT fics, and this novel-length tour de force is my absolute favourite. It puts right so many things that were wrong in canon, and as usual ignores Daenerys, focussing on the politics of Westeros. In this massive fork in the road reboot, Rob is not only a talented general (he captures all the Lannisters except Tyrion) but also increasingly a warg, influenced by Grey Wolf to become wolflike in battle himself. He's way too much for gentle Talisa and the solution to that also solves Jaime's problem, as does Margaery. The pairings may seem unusual but they all make perfect sense in context, far more so than canon ever did. There's a ton of political intrigue, the usual GoT magic, oodles of clever plot and an enormously satisfying resolution. Very highly recommended - I broke my "no WIPs" rule to read along!

Fanwork Links: Royal Flush

sinesofinsanity

Fandom: Avatar The Last Airbender
Pairings/Characters: Sokka/Zuko, Iroh, Azula
Rating: Teen
Length: 143,473 words
Creator Links: CSHfic and VSfic
Theme: Fork In The Road AU, Action/Adventure, Character Development, enemies working together, enemies to friends (to lovers) novel-length fic, plotty fic

Summary: Chief Arnook never assigns Sokka to protect Princess Yue, so he goes to fight the Fire Nation with the other men. When the moon dies, and the ocean spirit takes its revenge, Sokka is caught standing on the deck of a Fire Nation ship. Sokka should have drowned… and he would have drowned, if not for a certain Fire Nation raft fleeing the North Pole.

[An enemies-to-lovers season 2 rewrite, where Sokka is separated from the gaang during the Siege of the North, and travels the Earth Kingdom with Zuko instead].

Reccer's Notes: A really interesting take on Zuko's journey, and how it can be helped along with some force-fed friendship. The whole thing is told from Sokka's perspective which is really interesting as he slowly learns both how his initial assumptions about his enemies may be flawed, and how to understand Zuko as an individual. Plus his internal panic about "wait I'm friends with the firebender now?" transitioning into "wait I want to be more than friends with the firebender now?" is very well done and in character.

Content Notes: descriptions of near-drowning and severe burn injuries but nothing graphic, references to war, forced displacement, and child abuse.

Fanwork Links: Will We Last the Night on AO3

beatrice_otter

Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairings/Characters: Harry Potter, Severus Snape
Rating: Mature
Length: 352k words
Creator Links:

flamethrower
Theme: AU, fork in the road, amnesia, plotty fic, novel length, epic,

Summary: In 1993, Gilderoy Lockhart points a stolen wand at Harry Potter and Ron Weasley with the intent to Obliviate them.

The wand doesn't backfire. Gilderoy's "discovery" of the Chamber of Secrets is a short-term success.

Other consequences are not short-term at all.

Reccer's Notes: This is such an interesting premise, and the consequences of it are well-thought-through.

Fanwork Links: Swung by Serafim

sinesofinsanity

Fandom: Avatar the Last Airbender
Pairings/Characters: Zuko, Iroh, Katara, Aang, Sokka, Toph, Hakoda, Mai, Ty Lee, Azula, Hakoda, The Duke, Haru, Suki, Chit Sang
Rating: T
Length: 159,942 words
Creator Links: howlikeagod
Theme: Fork-in-the-road AU, Action/Adventure, Character Development, enemies working together, families of choice, friendship, novel-length fic, plotty fic

Summary: On the day before Ba Sing Se falls, Katara decides two things: 1) not to stop for a cup of tea; 2) consequently, the fate of the world.

Behind the walls, Zuko loses sleep, runs errands, contemplates treason, and drinks a lot of hot leaf juice—not necessarily in that order.

Reccer's Notes: A super fun what if that makes use of so many cascading consequences of the change. The character development and building friendships are so well done and everyone (everyone) has something interesting to contribute. Enough changes from canon to keep the story interesting, and the bits that are the same are either glossed over or told from different enough perspectives to keep the story going. There's a really good balance between humour and drama, with a focus on the relationships and character dynamics. Overall a great read that I've come back to several times.

Fanwork Links: (life happens) wherever you are on AO3

beatrice_otter

Fandom: Batman
Pairings/Characters: Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne
Rating: not rated
Length: 162k
Creator Links:

bacondoughnut
Theme: fork in the road, family, plotty fic, going home, gen, novel, epic

Summary: Jason Todd returns to Gotham with a foolproof plan, to kill the Joker and protect the city as the Red Hood in a way that Batman never could. But when he gets there he makes one major decision that's not a part of the plan. He goes home.

aka; The one where Jason tries to balance being the Red Hood with repairing things with his family, and maybe learns a thing or two about forgiveness and family and love along the way

Reccer's Notes: I really like this exploration of batfamily dynamics, Jason's mental state during the initial Red Hood arc, his trauma, his healing, and what might have been.

Fanwork Links: the bird, the fog, the mist

sinesofinsanity

Fandom: Avatar The Last Airbender
Pairings/Characters: Zuko, Sokka, Katara, Aang
Rating: Gen
Length: 142,042 words
Creator Links: Glass_Onion
Theme: Fork-In-The-Road AU, Action/Adventure, Character Development, enemies working together, families of choice, friendship, hurt/comfort, novel-length fic, plotty fic

Summary: After the Blue Spirit frees the Avatar from the Pohuai Stronghold, Admiral Zhao captures Prince Zuko under suspicion of treason. Isolated from his Uncle and his crew, Zuko has only one ally: the chatty prisoner one cell over.

Reccer's Notes: Probably my favourite ATLA AU story. The characters are just brilliant and the dialogue is so spot on (and occasionally hilarious). Every character has something to learn and room to grow. Zuko's character development is never a straight lines as he maintains that he *is* loyal to his nation, but slowly comes to learn that doesn't mean what he always thought it meant. The author absolutely revels in dramatic irony too, as it's super obvious to the reader who Zuko's prisoner-neighbour is.

Content Notes: Incarceration, some hints of background torture, some discussion of starving prisoners, violence, bombings, canon-typical discussions of child abuse (it's Zuko), a couple of people get stabbed but it's not graphic.

Fanwork Links: Mountains and Badgermolehills on AO3

beatrice_otter

Fandom: Star Wars
Pairings/Characters: Padme Amidala/Anakin Skywalker,
Rating: T
Length: 185k
Creator Links:

Carradee
Theme: series, AU, backstory, competence, female characters, female friendship, minor characters, novel length, epic works, plotty fic, time travel, time travel fixit

Summary: When Padmé Amidala was eight years old and entering politics, her grandmother put blocks on her memory. It was meant to protect her. Instead, a Sith destroyed the Republic.

Only after she died did she remember what her grandmother had done, that it was all fixable, and she demanded that she be sent back. She'd meant her body, which mainly had a repairable-but-broken hyoid bone and was right there.

Instead, her grandmother sent her back in time…to before the memory blocks had ever been put in place. She's a twenty-seven-year-old woman in her eight-year-old body.

And this time, when Palpatine and the Jedi show up and start tugging at her Force abilities? She's going to know what she's doing.

Reccer's Notes: I tend to prefer the "Padme has bad/unhinged taste" theory, rather than jump to "her marrying Anakin doesn't make sense/is a plot hole," but I love this story anyway because it leads to such an interesting AU.

Fanwork Links: Feathers on the Sand

beatrice_otter

Fandom: MCU
Pairings/Characters: Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanov
Rating: Not rated
Length: 450k words
Creator Links:

domarzione,

laporcupina
Theme: series, worldbuilding, AU, competence, gen, novel length, epic, plotty,

Summary: Steve Rogers: soldier, artist, foodie, friend, heart of the Avengers, and a guy whose past keeps creeping into his present and dictating his future. A series of stories about him and the people he has chosen to build his life around.

A comics-MCU mashup that is MCU-compliant through all of the Phase One movies then gets a little Brubakerish because the alternative was to get a lot Jossed.

Reccer's Notes: I always love Miss Porcupine's worldbuilding, her ability to make minor characters and OCs into fully-rounded, interesting people, and her willingness to dive deep into aspects of canon (and their implications) that most fic authors don't pay much attention to, and all of these things are easy to see in the Freezer Burn series. Among other things, what would HYDRA's modern ideology be? How would that affect their recruitment strategies, and therefore their tactics? What tactics would SHIELD and the Avengers use to counter them? And what would all this mean for Steve, Clint, Natasha, and Bucky? On the other hand, how would Steve get up to speed on modern weapons and tactics? There are a lot of stories which handle the civilian side of Steve's acclimatization to the 21st Century; this series does that, and does it well. But it also treats Steve's job as an Avenger with seriousness and care as well, which is far rarer.

Fanwork Links: Freezer Burn

quailfence

Fanwork Type(s): Fic
Fandoms: Various Star Treks (mostly TOS and AOS), MASH
Pairings/Characters: Kirk/Spock, BJ/Hawkeye/Peg in all combinations, Hot Lips/Bones, Amanda/Sarek, Radar/OFC
Creator Links:

PrairieDawn
Theme: Series, Psychic Powers, AU: Fork in the road, Hurt/Comfort, Science Fiction, Novel-Length Fic, Worldbuilding, Plotty Fic, Interspecies Pairings, Interspecies Stories,some others that apply to individual series.

Reccer's Notes: Prairie always writes wonderful fics. They’ve put a lot of thought into exactly how telepathy and other psycic powers work in the Trekverse, and those concepts come up a lot in their work. They also write a lot of fork-in-the-road AUs, which are generally very well thought out and diverge in places that most people wouldn’t consider diverging, making them fun and interesting. Medical casefic is another thing they write a lot of, and it always is detailed without being too gross/gorey. Overall a great writer that does a good job at worldbuilding and fleshing out aspects of canon that didn’t get a lot of attention in canon.

Favorite Fanworks: Changesverse series (Star Trek TOS, 121k). 3 works, Ongoing. Rated E but smut is clearly marked and skippable. Major unreality warning, especially for the first few chapters. This fic is based on two premises: 1. Kirk has become telepathic as a result of “some unfortunate side effects from the Tantalus device”, and 2. A good chunk of “The Menagerie” was an illusion created by the Talosians. The former is used to explore what it’s like to be a telepath in the Trek-verse, the latter to give the Talosians a lot more depth and motivations than in canon. The next two fics are rewrites of “Devil in the Dark” and “Spectre of the Gun” in this ‘verse, both of which are really good and interesting.
(Themes: Marriage, Friends to Lovers, Epic Works, Action/Adventure, Asexual & Demisexual Charcaters, Xeno/Alien Biology)

Link

The Importance of Choosing the Right Pediatrician (Star Trek AOS, 64k). 10 works, Ongoing. Mostly G and T with one skippabke E fic. I’ll let the summary of the first fic speak for itself:
“The first in a series of short pieces chronicling Spock's early childhood through his well baby visits.
I noticed that, at least until the destruction of his homeworld, reboot Spock is a little more balanced than his original counterpart was, perhaps just a little bit more comfortable in his own skin. This series assumes that one of the butterfly effects propagating backward and forward through time included a change in infant Spock's medical care, which had a consequent effect on his social skills.”
(Sybok [who becomes a rabbi named Solomon in this ‘verse] and Michael are there too).
(Themes: Kidfic (as kids), Minor Characters, Family, Backstory)

Link

I’m a Doctor, not A Diety (Star Trek TOS, 52.7k). 4 works, ongoing. T and M fics. McCoy is present for Where No Man Has Gone Before (unlike in canon), and ends up with psychic powers as a result. Very strong psychic powers that make some people very afraid. My favorite of this series is the fourth fic, “Nor Iron Bars A Cage”, which is the start of using McCoy’s powers to fix “The Menagerie”.
(Themes: Fix-it, Research, Disability)

Link

A few months ago I aslo reced PrairieDawn’s Star Trek/MASH crossover series “Welcome to 1951”, which you should definitely check out as well:

Link

beatrice_otter

Fandom: Batman comics
Characters/Pairings: Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson/Barbara Gordon, Jim Gordon
Rating: Teen
Length: 750k+ words
Creator Links:

dragonbat,

dragonbat2006,

Esther-Channah
Theme: series, novel length, epic works, AU, research, worldbuilding, competence, character development, logistical fixit, secret identity reveal, plotty, friendship, families of choice, cops & crime, competence,

Summary: A sudden shock in Batman's life leads to his apprehension at the hands of the GCPD.

Reccer notes: the author takes what we know of Gotham and Bruce Wayne and makes a fully functioning (but not perfect) infrastructure. Batman gets arrested and, due to extremely traumatic events, being drugged, and having a master manipulator working on him, has a mental breakdown. What happens next is that the justice and mental health systems do their job, with a level of detail that shows either extensive personal knowledge of how the system works in real life or a lot of research. There are no quick fixes, no easy outs, no miraculous comics "oh, I'm all better now!" But it's all interesting and very well-written, and one of my favorite DC comics fics.

Fanwork Links: Locked-Verse

quailfence

Fandom: (“Fandom” in bold): Doctor Who
Pairings/Characters: (“Pairings/Characters” in bold): Simm!Master, Rory Williams/Amy Pond, River Song
Rating: (“Rating” in bold): Mainly Teen and up audiences with one M for graphic violence and eldritch beings
Length: (“Length” in bold): 450,738 at time of reccing
Creator Links: (“Creator Links” in bold):

Nicor_Fyrweorm
Theme: (“Theme” in bold): Series, AU: Fork in the Road, Epic Works, Science Fiction, Time Travel, Secret Identity Reveal, Old Fandoms, Psycic Powers, Plotty Fic, Action/Adventure, (Not Really) Character Death, Interspecies Stories, Secret Identities, Xeno/Alien Biology, Friendship, Gen, Character Development, Never Met in Canon, Mistaken Identities
Summary: (“Summary” in bold): In one universe, the Doctor regenerated after sending Gallifrey into the Time War, and the Master along with it.
In this one, the Doctor didn't regenerate... And the Master didn't get stuck in the Time War.
... Amy Pond still has to deal with a crazy alien, though.

Or the one where the Doctor dies and the Master has to figure out who he is without the noise in his head or a friend by his side.

Reccer’s Notes (“Reccer’s Notes” in bold): Essentially, instead of regenerating during “The End of Time”, the Doctor uses his last life to heal the Master. And then the Master ends up in Amelia Pond’s backyard. Mistaken identity ensues.
I could describe this series as a rewrite of Series 6/7 with the Master (who has been mistaken for the Doctor) in place of Eleven, but it’s not just that. Very few of the stories are straight adaptations of TV stories, especially after the first half-dozen or so stories. Instead, the author makes new stories (usually historicals) that might serve the same role in the overall plot that a canon story does, but has its own plot, enemies, and one-off characters, while also adding twists and developments to the overall plot that weren’t present in canon. It also leans into the “Time Lords are eldritch beings” trope/theory, with many of the stories having a description of how the Master’s unique biology affects his perception of events in the story. Overall the series feels like it’s telling its own story/plot instead of simply being a retelling of canon with some minor alterations.

Series is ongoing and slow to update, months between works isn’t unusual. It is updating, however. There are currently 25 works in the series.
Fanwork links (“Fanwork links” in bold):

Link

beatrice_otter

Fandom: The Chronicles of Narnia
Characters/Pairings: Peter Pevensie, Susan Pevensie, Edmund Pevensie, Lucy Pevensie
Rating: T
Length: 120,000
Author Links:

cofax7
Theme: Worldbuilding, family, novel length fic, road trip, epic works, old fandoms, small fandoms, plotty fic, kidfic (as kids), gen, friendship, competence, book fandoms,

Summary: The day after Aslan left, taking the magic with him, just about everyone else left, too.
After the coronation festivities, the real work begins. During/post "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe".

Reccer's Notes: This is a story about a road trip taken the old-fashioned way--by foot and horse. So, the four Pevensie children are crowned kings and queens of Narnia, and there's a big party! Great! Then what? Everybody goes home and tries to rebuild their own lives, and there's nobody in all of Narnia who knows how to govern, nor even anyone who is interested in keeping up the castle at Cair Paravel. So the four children set off to go around their new land, explore it, meet the people, and try to rebuild the nation that the Witch had destroyed. This is the story of that trip, filled with adventurey, learning experiences, and EXCELLENT worldbuilding (for which this story has previously been recced).

Story Links:
Carpetbaggers @ Fanfiction.net
Carpetbaggers @ AO3

beatrice_otter

Fandom: Legends of Tomorrow
Pairings/Characters: Leonard Snart/Mick Rory
Rating: gen
Length: 232k words
Creator Links: nirejski
Theme: worldbuilding fixit, author rec, time travel, time travel fixit, superpowers, teams, plotty fic, parallel universe, ghosts, multiverse people, heists and capers, friends to lovers, fixit, everybody lives, novel length, epic

Summary: Due to a family curse (which some call a gift), Leonard Snart has more life than he knows what to do with – and that gives him the ability to see, speak to, and even share with the various ghosts that are always surrounding him.

Sure, said curse also means he’s going to die sooner rather than later, just like his mother, but in the meantime Len has no intention of letting superheroes, time travelers, a surprisingly charming pyromaniac, and a lot of ghosts get in the way of him having a nice, successful career as a professional thief.

Reccer's Notes: LoT is one of those shows that you just have to vibe with. Does it have a consistent theory of how time travel works? ish? Do all the shows that are supposedly set in the same DC universe fit together? Sort of, when they have crossover episodes? But they're all fun. This story takes all the plot and characterization and worldbuilding elements of the first season of LoT, tightens them up, takes them seriously, adds magical powers for Snart (with incredible worldbuilding for them as well), and fits everything together beautifully. It's amazing.

Also, they have a bunch of other awesome LoT fics, so if you enjoy this, check them out!

Fanwork Links: Countless Roads

beatrice_otter

Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairings/Characters: Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Sirius Black, the entire Harry Potter character list and many OCs
Rating: Mature
Length: 582k words
Creator Links: basketofnovas (slashmarks)
Theme: Worldbuilding fixit, plotty fic, old fandoms, novel-length, fixit, epic works, book fandom, backstory, fork in the road AU,

Summary: In which Harry goes to live with his godfather in the summer of 1994, Peter Pettigrew goes to Azkaban, and a lot of things change.

Reccer's Notes: There are a lot of "Sirius is exonerated and takes Harry in" stories. What sets this one apart is the excellent worldbuilding and the deep dive into wizarding culture, law, and history. You know all the terrible stuff in the wizarding world that canon just glosses over? All the trauma and horrible things that are just ... ignored or turned into a joke? basketofnovas takes them seriously and crafts a world and a story around it. And despite really leaning in to how awful wizarding society is and how many terrible things the villains have done, they actually come across as less terrible than in canon. Because they're not just awful people who do awful things for no reason, they're awful people who do awful things because they've been fucked up by living in a very abusive and horrible world with abusive and horrible families.

Content Notes: author chooses not to warn, BUT it's also tagged for ( specific notes )

Fanwork Links: Brilliant Difficulty series

stepps

Fandom: Teen Wolf
Pairings/Characters: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, The Hale Family
Rating: T
Length: 28,959
Creator Links:

ShanaStoryteller
Theme: Comfortfic

Summary:

Stiles is ten when he saves the Hales from their burning home and Derek from a wolfsbane bullet, and this establishes a pattern that seem to continue indefinitely.

"Then he's facing a burning home, and he wraps the hood of his sweatshirt around his mouth before he pushes the door open and steps inside. There's Mr. Hale asleep - he hopes asleep - on the couch, next to - Stiles thinks that's his brother but there are so many Hales, who can keep track. He rushes over and starts shaking him, can see the rise and fall of the man's chest so he knows he's alive, but he's not waking up.
He shoves away his hood so he can shout, "Mr. Hale! You have to get up, there's a fire! Mr. Hale, get up!" Nothing, he's not even twitching, both of them taking in deep even breaths like they're having the most peaceful of rests, and Stiles is going to cry. "Wake up, wake up, wake up!"
There's a moment, where all Stiles can hear is the blood rushing in his ears and not the roar of the flames or the creak of wood, then with a violent, silent pop it's all back and both of the men are gasping awake, eyes open and jumping to their feet. "

Reccer's Notes: Last rec of the month and this is a good one! This fic involves some of my all time favourite Teen Wolf troupes: Magic!Stiles, BAMF!Stiles, and alive Hale Family AU. Stiles' growth is wonderful, how he becomes part of the Hale family, and his developing relationship with Derek are just perfect. I've reread this fic several times and will continue to go back to it when I need things to feel good and happy at the end. And this is another one that is the start of a great series of fic!

Fanwork Links: hope is the thing with feathers

quailfence

Fandom: MASH (TV), Star Trek: The Original Series
Pairings: B. J. Hunnicutt/Peg Hunnicutt/Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce, Leonard McCoy/Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan, James T. Kirk/Spock, Radar O'Reilly & Spock
Characters: James T. Kirk, Leonard "Bones" McCoy, Spock (Star Trek), Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce, B. J. Hunnicutt, Radar O'Reilly, Sherman Potter, Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan, Kellye (MASH), Frank Burns, Maxwell Klinger, Peg Hunnicutt, Erin Hunnicutt, Edna O'Reilly, Original Characters, Charles Emerson Winchester III, Sidney Freedman, Original Characters, various other Star Trek characters, various historical figures.
Rating: Mostly Teen and Mature, with one (skipable) Explict fic
Length: 245,462 words
Creator Links:

PrarieDawn

PrarieDawn
Themes: Comfortfic, telepathy, Crossover/Fusions, Polyamory, Rare Pairings, Science Fiction, Apocalypse/Dystopia, Established Relationship, Novel-Length Fic, Time Travel, Family, Road Trips, Crossover Pairings, Plotty fic, Epic Works, Interspecies Pairings, Established Relationship with Plot, Historical Settings, Friendship, Fork in the Road AU, Post-Canon, Favorite Fanworks, Character Development, Going Home

Summary: From the first story: Radar, Hawkeye, and Beej rescue three stranded travelers who are almost, but not quite in the Navy. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy find themselves trapped in the Korean War.

Reccer's Notes: This is an amazing, cleverly-written series, I read it while knowing very little about MASH and got invested in the characters as I went. I’ve read and reread several of the installments many times, and each time the fic’s as good as when I read it the first time. There’s so many things I like about this, with Radar and Spock’s friendship, the great OCs, and Peg Hunnicutt being particular things I like about it. All the relationships and interactions between characters are interesting and compelling. The pacing is also really good, and I like how the scale of the stories slowly grows as the series progresses. There’s also some great humor that’s well-placed and never undermines the more serious moments.

One of the works (the second-to-last one, Study War No More) is tagged for Rape/Non-con, this is for some references to and discussion of past rape/sexual assault by a minor character in the third chapter - no rape occurs in the work, and the references/discussion doesn’t contain anything graphic

Fanwork Links: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1033128

beatrice_otter

Fandom: Star Wars prequel trilogy
Pairings/Characters: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Shmi Skywalker, Anakin Skywalker
Rating: teen
Length: 1.1 million words in 24 stories
Creator Links:

Blue_Sunshine
Theme: going home, families of choice, fixit, time travel fixit, AU, character development, competence, epic works, novel-length works, everybody lives/nobody dies, favorite fanworks, worldbuilding, plotty

Summary: Four years after Order 66 and the fall of the Jedi Order, a grieving, struggling Ben Kenobi finds himself inexplicably taken back in time, crashing headlong into the foundations of fate. Grasping hope and vengeance with both hands, Ben rebuilds his identity and seeks to change the course of history: by saving Anakin Skywalker, the Jedi Order, the galaxy - and just maybe saving Obi-Wan Kenobi along the way.

Featuring a heavy dose of Mandalorian involvement, overall world-building, cultural exploration, and every star wars plot I have ever wanted to write.

Reccer's Notes: There are a shitton of "Star Wars character goes back in time to prevent the fall of the Republic and destruction of the Jedi," and half of those are focused on Obi-Wan, but this is one of the best. It is so good. After experiencing the destruction of everything he loves and stewing in misery (and learning a little bit) the Force sends Obi-Wan back home, to a time when his home existed. But he's a much different person now than he was then, and also he has a mission to save that home. I love that this story takes things in a bit of a different direction than most such stories.

Fanwork Links: The Desert Storm

makamu

Fandom: Django Unchained
Pairings/Characters: Broomhilda von Shaft/Django/King Schulz
Rating: Mature
Length: 38635 words
Creator Links: GroteskBurlesque
Theme: Polyamory

Summary: Each one holds the key to the others' liberation.

Reccer's Notes: This fic is for me one of the ways that canon could and should have ended. It manages to grow each character organically and to develop their relationship naturally and thus puts the eventual OT3 on very strong foundations. But the thing that sold me on the fic for all eternity? If you write the characters so well that I can hear how their actors would say the lines, you are doing something very right in my book!

Fanwork Links: when we lay down our weary guns

Current Mood: excited

22degreehalo

Fandom: Metal Gear Solid
Pairings/Characters: Solid Snake/Otacon
Rating: R (warning for major character death)
Length: 9.1k
Creator Links:

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!)

mlravenwrites

Fandom: Star Wars
Pairings/Characters: Anakin Skywalker, Dooku, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Shmi Skywalker, Anakin/Padme
Rating: G
Length: 97,919 words
Creator Links: SpaceWall on AO3
Theme: AU: Fork in the Road, Character Development, Hurt/Comfort, Novel-Length Fic, Royalty AUs, Worldbuilding, Plotty Fic

Summary: From SpaceWall: Teetering on the edge of darkness, an unexpected call from his grandpadawan forces Dooku of Serenno to see himself as a Jedi once more. Anakin Skywalker, and the galaxy as a whole, will never be the same.

A retelling (or re-imagining) beginning after The Phantom Menace, with significant canon divergence.

Reccer's Notes: A fabulous canon-divergence AU/fix-it (ish) where Dooku helps to raise Anakin and everything turns out differently. Tons of interesting, in-depth Serenno worldbuilding (if anything could be considered worldbuilding in such an expansive canon as Star Wars, it's this); found-family feels with Anakin, Shmi, Obi-Wan, and Dooku; and excellent longterm plottiness. Includes a MUCH healthier Anakin/Padme relationship; 'Skywalker' as a title; and lots of wrestling with the Jedi Code, especially around the Clone Wars.

Fanwork Links: Luminous Objects on AO3

mlravenwrites

Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairings/Characters: Sirius Black, Harry Potter, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Rating: T
Length: 87,754 [larger series is 155,396 with more works to come]
Creator Links: enigmaticblue on AO3
Theme: Novel-Length Fic, AU: Fork in the Road, Domestic, Fix-It, Plotty Fic, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It

Summary: From enigmaticblue: It’s 1988, Sirius has Harry, and possession is nine-tenths of the law.

Reccer's Notes: A comfy, domestic, Sirius-rescues-Harry-from-the-Dursleys fic, with a very reasonable amount of exposing Dumbledore's sinister side (not Dumbledore-bashing, just a much more responsible depiction of the implications and motivations of his actions than JKR's). Sirius raises Harry in France, with friends both Harry's age and Sirius's, and it's overall just a relaxing, summer-in-the-countryside type of read. There's definitely Dumbledorean machinations, but Sirius is a time-traveler who's already tried this a few times, so he knows his way around them :)

Also, you definitely don't need to read the entire series to read this-- this is very much a standalone with a few references to the previous fic.

Fanwork Links: There Is No Man, However Wise on AO3

error_cascade

Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe, particularly The Avengers (2012) & Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Pairings/Characters: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Rating: Mature
Length: 74,873 words; 7 chapters
Creator Links: Pookaseraph [ao3]
Theme: novel-length fic, plotty fic

Summary:
"In the wake of the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the Avengers need to pick up the pieces, and figure out where to go from here. Tony had a plan, at least he thought he had a plan, but Steve Rogers seems to have blown most of those out of the water.

Spoilers for CA:TWS, lots of them.

Summary is a little vague to avoid spoiling, but it's a plotty, post CA:TWS 'what do we do now' fic."

Reccer's Notes:
It's been a while but I can endorse the fic in saying that the plot was sufficiently compelling despite me not being a MCU stony shipper. Worldbuilding felt grounded and plausible. Some nice globe-trotting as Steve and Tony hunt down HYDRA villains.

Fanwork Links: Iron Man: Director of S.W.O.R.D. [on AO3]

error_cascade

Fandom: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Characters/Pairings: Garak/Bashir. Featuring Elim Garak, Julian Bashir, Original Male Character, and Enabran Tain.
Rating: Mature
Length: 65,397 words, 40 chapters
Creator Links: Ololon on AO3
Theme: novel-length fic, plotty, post-canon

Summary:
"Post-series end, Julian is living on Cardassia and in a relationship with Garak, and their future seems assured. But a chance encounter with a former Cardassian dissident leaves Julian wondering if he ever really knew Garak at all...and may jeopardise both their futures."

Reccer's Notes:
It's been a while since I read this one, but basically it's a very deep character and backstory dive into Elim Garak with lots of ambiguity. There's also a past Garak/OMC relationship that was very compelling. This is an established Julian Bashir/Elim Garak fic, so the plot tension comes from mystery & backstory and not developing romance.

Fanwork Links: On AO3

beatrice_otter

Fandom: Battlestar Galactica
Pairing: Felix Gaeta/Louis Hoshi, Kara Thrace/Sam Anders, Saul Tigh/Ellen Tigh, Bill Adama/Laura Roslin, Boomer/Galen Tyrol, Gaius Baltar/Caprica Six
Length: 115k
Author Links:

lls_mutant
Theme: novel length, old fandoms, fork in the road AU, fixit, plotty fic, post-canon, fandom classic, epic works, enemies working together

Summary: Raptor 718 wasn't lost randomly; an Eight on board was ready to switch sides in the Cylon civil war. With the passengers of Raptor 718 being held prisoner on the Colony, the events on Galactica unfurl differently. (Season 4.5 AU fic, and Kara-poof-free.)

Reccer's Notes: This is one of my favorite season 4.5 AUs. It's no less angsty than canon for 4.5, but in this story the angst flows naturally from the characters and their actions, instead of being forced for DRAMA. And there is no mystical WTF-ery or abandoning technology, either. Just good, taut storytelling in the best tradition of Battlestar Galactica.

Warnings: Contains rape. The actual rape happens off-screen and is not the main plot, but the impact of it echoes through the rest of the fic. In addition to the rape, there is other talk of sexual assault.

Story Links: The Space Between Us (or at AO3)

beatrice_otter

Fandom: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Characters/Pairings: Sarah Connor, Savannah Weaver, Kyle Reese, John Connor
Rating: teen
Length: 79k
Creator Links: stars_inthe_sky
Theme: post-canon, au, female characters, family, time travel, time loops, apocalypse/dystopia, small fandoms, plotty fic, novel-length fic, future fic, kid fic, competence, old fandoms

Summary: Not just any orphaned little girl could have become Sarah Connor’s daughter.

In which Savannah Weaver grows up, fights back, and figures out what to do if she wants to live.

Reccer's Notes: At the end of the Sarah Connor Chronicles, teenage John Connor travels to the post-apocalyptic future, leaving Sarah and Savannah and James Ellison behind. This is the story of how Sarah raised Savannah, and what happened after Judgment Day in a world where John Connor didn't exist. It is such an interesting look at what might happen, and I love the twist at the end.

Fanwork Links: tell me where your strength lies

beatrice_otter

Fandom: BSG/Star Trek TNG
Characters/Pairings: Felix Gaeta
Rating: gen
Length: 152k words
Creator Links:

Rap541
Theme: crossovers, pre-AO3, psychic powers, plotty fic, minor characters, gen, characters of color, novel length, epic works

Summary: What do you do when you're a lost Starfleet officer in the Beta Quadrant? You blend in and hope for the best.

Reccer's Notes: Rap541 posted the first chapter of this to LJ in January of 2007, and I was immediately hooked. I love the concept, and while I would have made different changes along the way, the whole thing gripped me and I waited breathlessly for each new chapter. It's a lot of fun and very interesting. (Although if you like Kara Thrace, it's a very negative portrayal of her, so fair warning.)

Fanwork Links: Going Native

wendelah1

Fandom: The X-Files
Characters/Pairings: Fox Mulder, Dana Scully,
Rating: Teen for bad language and "icky stuff"
Length: 26,137 words
Creator Links: Author's page at Gossamer
Theme: bring your fandom to work, mythical creatures, casefic, plotty fic, outsider POV

Summary: Set during Season Four. Told from the POV of a veteran FBI agent working with other agents whom you might recognize.

An undercover assignment lands Agent Jerry Luskin and his colleagues in a "cursed" hospital. Can Dr. Scully handle an emergency without calling for the paramedics? Just watch.

Reccer's Notes: I'm a retired RN. This means I've spent a lot of time complaining to anyone who would listen about how inaccurately the media in general, and The X-Files in particular, portrays hospitals, nurses, and physicians. Special Agent "I'm a medical doctor" Scully was no exception to that rule, in episodes, and in fic, to my dismay. However, very occasionally I'd run into a fic writer whose expertise in all things medical exceeded my own. "Aha!" I thought to myself when I first read "Failure to Die." "This Kel person didn't just research university hospitals--she works in one!"

When a writer puts their characters and story in a familiar setting, it's easy to fall into a trap. You can include so much detail that the reader gets impatient. Kel's genius move, the one that keeps "Failure to Die" from bogging down in medical minutia and unnecessary explanations, is her POV character, Special Agent Jerry Luskin. The reader only knows what Jerry knows, and therefore needs only to understand what he understands. In this fic, along with Mulder and Scully, Agent Luskin is undercover, playing a version of himself: a retired FBI agent who takes a job as head of security at the university hospital in his hometown. If you enjoy Jerry's dry wit, he plays a supporting role in "Basketball Therapy," and takes point again in "The Beginner's Guide to Tightrope Walking," my favorite fic by my favorite X-Files writer.

In short, Kel's "Failure to Die" is a compelling casefic, with an original x-file at its center, and plenty of classic Mulder/Scully interaction to enjoy.

Fanwork Links: Kel's fic is at Gossamer, which can't be linked to directly. Go to her author's page and scroll to Failure to Die.

alexseanchai

Fandom: Harry Potter
Characters/Pairings: Remus Lupin/OFC, Sirius Black/OFC, Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Luna Lovegood/Draco Malfoy, Neville Longbottom/OFC, and ensemble
Rating: Teens +
Length: 1.9M yes that stands for megawords, yes mega as in million
Creator Links: whydoyouneedtoknow on FanficAuthors.net
Theme: there's a list!
( the list )

Summary:

Living with Danger: What if Harry Potter had not just father figures, but mother figures as well? What if he had siblings? And what about Hermione Granger, or Draco Malfoy? Would they have been different with a different family? What if Sirius Black had a girlfriend named Aletha, his fellow Beater and constant verbal sparring partner? And what if Remus Lupin, one gray March day about five months after his world fell apart, met a woman named Danger who knew things that would change his life forever?

( summaries for volumes two through five )

Reccer's Notes: This series began in 2004 and concluded in 2014; I found it in 2006, and it proceeded to define several years of my life. The series premise is, more or less, accidental baby acquisition in four different manners: inherited, stolen, born, given. The rest is, given how the different upbringings changed the central characters and their relationship dynamics, and given that the antagonists' goals haven't changed at all, how would canon play out? The answer turns out to be with a lot of adventure, a lot of drama, a lot of humor, a lot of emotional roller coaster ride, and a happy ending.

It is not as much of a canon divergence AU as it seems; part of that is because HP6 and HP7 jossed some things in the series—that said, though, she got to a particular plot point in HP7 which flatly contradicted some worldbuilding in chapters she'd already posted, and that contradiction sparked everything that filled the sixth-year-shaped hole in her outline—and part is because it's a stealth crossover. (Very stealth, if one doesn't put together certain bits in volume 5 with one of the author's AUs of this AU series.) It also requires trigger warnings in a number of places; were it on AO3, I expect it'd be under Choose Not To Warn for a lot of reasons. And while there are certainly valid complaints about the quality of the earlier parts, I prefer to say you can watch the writing quality get a decade's worth of improvement in however long it takes you to read two million words!

Fanwork Links: Start with Living with Danger.

beatrice_otter

Fandom: Lord of the Rings
Characters/Pairings: Boromir, Faramir, Aragorn
Rating: Gen
Length: 95k words
Creator Links:

scribblesinink
Theme: pre-AO3, fixit AU, plotty fic, novel-length, family

Summary: Against all odds, Boromir survives Amon Hen. Ashamed and filled with remorse, he goes on a quest for redemption. Bound by his promise to a sick man, Faramir keeps the secret of his brother's survival. But as secrets are wont to do, the truth comes out eventually and Aragorn journeys north to bring Gondor's prodigal son home.

Reccer's Notes: This is a fandom classic from the days of the Henneth Annûn Story Archive. (Well, I consider it a classic, but I was never involved enough in the fandom to know if other people did.) It's long, it's an interesting idea, it's got great worldbuilding for "what might have been happening off-screen and off-page," great characterization of canon characters, and interesting OCs.

Fanwork Links: The Long Road Home

pronker

Fandom: Star Wars

Characters/Pairings: Obi-Wan Kenobi/Qui-Gon Jinn

Rating: M

Length: Over 100,000 words

Creator Links: L Index, go about 5/8 way down the page

Theme: Amnesty, AU, Action/Adventure, Plotty Fic, Novel-Length Fic

Summary: Obi-Wan, more attuned to the Unifying Force than his master, believes his nightmares may be a warning about the future. Qui-Gon, preoccupied by the Living Force, disregards the warning.

Reccer's Notes: Lilith Sedai writes stories set seamlessly into the GFFA, only with sex. The high concept "galactic gladiators" grabs the attention, and it gets more enthralling from there with low concept characterization, nuance and setting. Masterfully plotted, Balance The Force comprises five parts.

Fanwork Links:

Galactic Gladiators
Rogue Jedi
Dark Apprentice
Uneasy Allies
Grandmaster

Current Mood: satisfied
Current Location: downstairs office
Current Music: cheerful neighbor working in backyard

an0ther_dreamer

Fandom: Venom (Movie 2018)
Characters/Pairings: Eddie Brock/Venom Symbiote
Rating: Unrated (I think Explicit for violence)
Length: 32,814 words
Creator Links:

orphan
Theme: Amnesty, Casefic, Competence, Gateway Fic, Hurt/Comfort, Interspecies Stories, Interspecies Pairing, Loyalty Kink, Plotty Fic

Summary: After the probe crash, Eddie's getting his life back together. Sort of. So what if his new beat writing PR puff pieces for Silicon Valley startups isn't exactly glamorous? And so what if every time he closes his eyes, he dreams of the distant stars, and the bottom of a smooth black hole, one that used to be filled with teeth?

Eddie is agitated, pacing across Jodie’s office. A part of him knows he looks crazy, looks erratic. Knows this has gone off the rails, that he needs to calm down so Jodie listens, really listens to what he's saying. A part of him knows that. That part feels like it's coming from very, very far away.

Reccer's Notes: Incredibly well-plotted casefic with witty dialogue and a killer ending. Eddie behaves like a competent reporter (e.g. he actually gets information out of people before being thrown out of the building) and the themes have real teeth.

Fanwork Links: Muckraker! by orphan on AO3

jainas

Fandom: Stargate SG-1
Characters/Pairings: Sam Carter/Daniel Jackson/Jack O'Neill/Teal'c in various combinaisons
Rating:
Length: 66,906
Creator Links: Dira Sudis
Theme: multiverse people, wrong universe, parallel universe and dimensional travel, science fiction, hurt/comfort, polyamory, plotty,

Summary: Jack wakes up in the SGC to the news that his team is dead. If he weren't hearing the news from General Hammond he might not believe it--and even so it's not quite real until he sees the bodies. Once he does, he knows nothing is ever going to be the same again.

Sam wakes up in the SGC to the news that she is now the senior member of SG-1. Jack O'Neill is dead. For Sam and her team, nothing is ever going to be the same again.

SG-1 might be able to go on like this--Sam's going to keep her team together if it kills her--but a man who's lost his team is capable of anything, and Jack's about to do the unthinkable to make things right.

Reccer's Notes: An excellent fic already recced in the past, but too fitting for this theme to let it pass. Plotty and emotional and *good*. I loved it.

Fanwork Links: Jigsaw

jainas

Fandom: Game of Thrones
Characters/Pairings: Jaime/Brienne
Rating: M
Length: 90 911
Creator Links: SigilBroken
Theme: Battle Couple, action/adventure, au: fork in the road, book fandoms, epic works, female characters, future fic, loyalty kink, plotty fic, Novel-Length Fic

Summary: “Justice is what I am about here,” the queen said.

“Then allow Ser Jaime trial by combat,” Brienne said. “I will be his champion.”

Reccer's Notes: A tremendously good Jaime/Brienne endgame serie. The one to read if you must only read one... and as the series goes on a serious case of battle couple, among many other things.

Fanwork Links: Never Give A Wench A Sword is the first part of In This Light (on AO3, Restricted access)

wendelah1

Fandom: The X-Files
Characters/Pairings: Fox Mulder, Dana Scully, the Lonegunmen, Walter Skinner
Rating: T
Length: 29,401 words
Creator Links: at Gossamer: Kel
Theme: spells and curses, casefic, humor, plotty fic

Summary: "I have been on the bridge that spans two worlds, the link between all souls by which we cross into our own true nature."
-- Fox Mulder, "The Blessing Way"

Reccer's Notes: Whenever I need cheering up, there are certain authors and fics I always revisit. Kel is one of those writers and this is one of those fics.

"Angular Momentum" is a gen-ish casefile/x-file that fits into canon, has the Mulder/Scully partnership at its center, and was written by an author who likes both characters! It’s mostly vintage Kel: snappy dialogue, intricate plotting, with a side order of political/social satire. The Lone Gunmen all play pivotal roles in this story, too. Oh! I nearly left out the best part: in a memorable and luminous sequence, Mulder and Scully journey to the "lower world," where they meet their spirit guides. This would have made a great episode, with its perfect mixture of humor, murder, and mysticism.

True confession. I love this story so much I commissioned fanart for it and gave it to the writer. Obviously, I love the writer, too. And the artist, Ravenari, is amazing. Click on the link after you’ve read the fic.

Collared Peccary and Gopher Snake

Fanwork Links:
Angular Momentum

jainas

Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Characters/Pairings: Clint/Bucky, all Avengers
Rating: M
Length: 75,597
Creator Links: flawedamythyst
Theme: Spells and Curses, established relationship + plot, established relationship, hurt/comfort, soulmate-identifying marks, rare pairings, plotty fic, soulbonding, disability

Summary: When a dragon attacks Manhattan, Clint is hit by a curse, and both he and Bucky have to face that this might be the end of his time as an Avenger. Neither of them cope well.

But at least it gives Clint an excuse to get a dog, right?

Reccer's Notes: This story is Part 3 of the Complications series, but stands well on it's own if you accept that it is a Post Age-of-Ultron Soulmate AU where Clint and Bucky discovered that they were soulmate against all odds, and eventually managed to make it work.
The curse in this story is pretty nasty and deals with sensory deprivation, but has a good level of confort to balance the hurt, a solid plot and good writting, I really enjoyed reading it as it came out as a WIP.

Fanwork Links: Sensations

meretricula

Fandom: Wiedźmin | The Witcher
Characters/Pairings: Emhyr var Emreis/Geralt of Rivia
Rating: Mature
Length: 25k
Creator Links:

astolat
Theme: Amnesty, Secret Identity Reveal, Action/Adventure, Competence, Slow Burn, Plotty Fic, Friends to Lovers

Summary: Vesemir wasn’t sure what he’d done to deserve any of this.

Reccer's Notes: I swear to you that you don't have to know anything about the Witcher to appreciate this fic. (I have read all of astolat's Witcher fic and that is literally all I know about this fandom, it's okay.) This is such an incredible slow-burn story -- by the time Geralt's pervasive sense of unease is explained and he finally finds out who Duny is, I want to claw my face off. But it's also the most delightful showcase of complementary competencies (if you're into astolat's thing where she has the person with an unswerving moral compass and the person who's really into Machiavelli and THEY FALL IN LOVE OH NO, you're going to love this ship) and I want it to go on forever! I just -- Duny's final confession! Who gave anyone permission to make me feel these feelings! Please come feel them with me, I promise you will enjoy it.

Fanwork Links: By Any Other Name

jainas

Fandom: My Little Pony
Characters/Pairings: Celestia, OCs
Rating: PG-13
Length: 38,698
Creator Links: Iceman (on Fimfiction.net)
Theme: robots androids & ai, Au:dystopia, Au:science fiction, Au: robots-ai, plotty fic, science fiction, worldbuilding

Summary: The CEO of Hofvarpnir Studios just won the contract to write the official My Little Pony MMO. She has built an A.I. Princess Celestia and given her one basic drive: to satisfy everybody's values through friendship and ponies. Princess Celestia will satisfy your values through friendship and ponies, and it will be completely consensual.

Reccer's Notes: I know nothing of ponies, but the friend who recced me this fic called it a masterpiece... And he was right!
I won't spoil it too much but the setting and build-up are verv clever and feel deeply realistic... The worlbuilding and logical understanding of the AI and the Equestria-verse functioning are very knowledgeable and explored in depth. The fic packs a punch, exploring the means Benevolent AI Princess Celestia deploys to fulfill her goals, the attraction of VR escapism but also machine ethics and AI safety, questioning the fine line between utopia and distopia.
(For myself I ultimately found it pretty creppy and disturbing, but also very though provoking, probably more so because it almost makes sense...)

Fanwork Links: Friendship is Optimal

jainas

Fandom: Supernatural
Characters/Pairings: Castiel/Dean Winchester, ensemble
Rating: M
Length: 181,619
Creator Links: bendingsignpost
Theme: epic works, interspecies pairings, interspecies stories, action/adventure, complete au: fairytales, courtship, identity porn, mutual pining, mytical creatures: angels/demons, novel-length fic, plotty fic, secret identity reveal, slow burn, worldbuilding

Summary: Under the cover of a masquerade ball, Castiel has five nights to recover the key to his people's freedom. The world has changed greatly in the six centuries since their banishment into the void, but the task isn't impossible. Unfortunately for Castiel, this is going to involve talking to people - especially the Knight Prince who has taken an interest in Castiel and his "costume" wings.

Reccer's Notes: The whole month I have been dying to rec this delight of a monster fic and couldn't because it was still in progress... But no more, and just in time before the end of the theme!
From the Cinderella AU premise, this fic build an incredible slow burn romance laced with growing tension, intricate worldbuilding and wonderful characterization.
I loved the way the story unfold, all the things it does: an angel undercover as an human at the masquerade, with a crucial mission and almost no idea of what he is doing, but also how who he shines through for Dean to see, the growing attraction and falling in love for both of them and the great identity porn it implies, the way Bendingsignpost handled the looming reveal of Castiel's true nature as the five nights come to a close; all the details of the cultural differences both before and after.
The story has some incredibly tense chapters and the plot had me at the edge of my seat more than once! A must-read! :)

Fanwork Links: Cinderwings

an0ther_dreamer

Fandom: Black Sails
Characters/Pairings: James McGraw/Thomas Hamilton/Miranda Hamilton, Madi/John Silver
Rating: Mature
Length: 103,174 words
Creator Links:

Wind_Ryder
Theme: Established Relationship with Plot, M/M/F Threesomes, Polyamory, Canon LGBTQ Characters, Modern AU, Epic Works, Novel-Length Fic, Established Relationship, Plotty Fic

Summary: James and Thomas are blinking at her with the dull early morning look of two men who very much want to go back to sleep. Miranda swipes her thumb across the screen, and pulls the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

It's Peter Ashe. "Have you seen the news?" he asks, pressing on before she could say a word. "There are pictures in the paper. Intimate ones. Of you, Thomas, and James." Her fingers tighten around the phone. She closes her eyes, and takes a deep breath. Then, pulling it from her ear, she taps the speakerphone button.

"Say that again," she beseeches quietly. He does. He repeats it, and tells them more. At some point in the night, a hacker released dozens of stolen photographs.

Now, all of England and beyond were discussing how an MP of Thomas' reputation was actually gay, that a Naval Officer with James' CV was a home wrecker, and how Miranda was either the victim of her husband's deviations, or a slut begging for more.

Modern AU: In which Thomas, Miranda, and James are outed to the press.

Reccer's Notes: A tense and enthralling mystery/thriller with incredible world-building of its AU.

Fanwork Links: You Can't Handle The Truth @ AO3