a tiny kingdom at the bottom of the trees where i was always a winner and i was barely alone.
Tired. Don't know what to do next.
So. Well. Here's a Southland recs post! *confetti*
01. "A Little Mental Yoga" by
dsudis
Cooper POV, Sherman/Cooper, NC17, 17K words
(Hosted at AO3)
The One Where Sherman's A Telepath. Or, I dunno, receives people's thoughts. This is totally the first Southland story I ever read, easily a few months before I saw any of the show. I don't usually go for "psychic!" stories, but this one is pretty great. Set between s1 and s2, ish, I think.
John dragged his steps a little, debating whether to take the kid out somewhere and personally see to getting him plastered.
Ben shook his head wearily and said, "Believe me, man, it would just make it worse."
John stopped short and looked over at Ben. He knew for a fucking fact he hadn't somehow spoken without meaning to--and he saw Ben freeze, eyes going wide as he stared at the asphalt, every inch of his body bracing for a blow.
John was abruptly angry, the special anger that was reserved for the obviously guilty, because Ben had Yeah, I did it written all over him. It didn't even make sense, and John glared at him, furious, wanting to hit him, wanting to walk away, because he did not want to deal with this shit. What did you do? What the fuck did you do? What do I have to fucking deal with now?
02. "Space (What to Put In It)" by
missmollyetc
Cooper POV, Cooper/Sherman, quite a lot of R, 900 words
(Hosted at AO3)
Just a little bit of a thing. I kind of feel bad for Cooper here, you know? He just wants his casual, dirty sex routine, just wants to relax after a ridiculous day, and stupid Sherman's all cute and sleepy (like a puppy!) and sad and broken. Your life is hard, John. Very difficult. Yes.
Um. No quote, 'cause it's very short and Cooper thinks about sex a lot; sorry.
03. "California Stop" by wearemany
Cooper POV, Cooper/Sherman UST, 14A, 1200 words, crossover with the author's OC AU
(Hosted on LJ)
So, a while back, wearemany wrote a couple of really great stories where Ryan Atwood (played by Ben McKenzie, who plays Sherman on Southland) ended up a sex worker instead of going to live with the Cohens (they're seriously great, you should read them if you're familiar with The OC). And then she wrote this fantastic thing, which is partially some Cooper backstory, and partially some exploration of how Ryan and Sherman are actually pretty different characters, even though they're both quiet and skeptical and look good in undershirts.
I'm just not awesome at picking excerpts today. It's good! You should read it! Familiarity with The OC is not required for this one.
04. "Bloodbuzz" by wearemany
Cooper POV, Cooper/Sherman, NC17, 6000 words
(Hosted on LJ)
This is very sweet. Kind of old school. Ben's dad is an asshole, Cooper fixes things, possibly including himself.
Also, there's suit shopping. It's terrible, but I love watching characters who (probably--we don't actually have canon on this) hate shopping shop.
"What am I supposed to do?"
This is what kills him, how the kid actually gives a shit what John thinks. How he thinks John has real fucking advice to go with their respective, impressively fucked-up family histories.
"I don't know," John allows, buying a minute. Ben smiles at the edge of his mouth, embarrassed a little, John can tell, for being unsure how to handle the least lethal threat of their week. "You think you can go a whole night in the same room without punching him?"
"I don't know," Ben says. "Want to come see?" He shrugs, a different smile now creeping through. "I mean, he bought a whole table."
John laughs before he can stop himself. "You asking me to prom?"
Ben shrugs again, but his shoulders are looser, grin lighter.
"Yeah, what the fuck, okay," John says. "This mean I have to wear a fucking suit?"
05. "john, he trains to sing the blues" by fated_addiction
Chickie! Chickie Brown!!!, Chickie/Sherman UST, 14A, 1200 words
(Hosted at LJ)
This is the only Chickie POV story I've seen, and here is what I have to say about that: WRONG. More of this, fandom. Please and thank you! And maybe ones where she does fuck him. I would read a lot of that.
Post-s1 finale.
Sometime soon, Sherman does buy her a beer.
It's nowhere particular, a nameless city bar; they're the easiest to forget and remember, here and there like a desk calendar. He doesn't bring the motorcycle. She doesn't think about fucking him either. That's for retirement parties. And her stitches, they're still around anyway, waiting to fade a little faster.
She's wearing jeans and trying not to think about her kid. She tries not to call him Ben. She wants to. Her fingers strangle the neck of her beer and Sherman's staring off to the side, paying no attention to the band at the front. They’re not any good. And after awhile, she thinks about telling him, all house bands become the same.
"How'd it go?"
"It went."
He nods, "That's the word."
She tries to smile, but doesn't. She thinks of Cooper and how he'd shake his head at the two of them. Chickie, he'd say. Sherman, he'd add. And somewhere, up there, there'd be a word to wisdom about how partners should just be partners and how intermingling is a fucking stupid idea.
06. "Look How Far The Light Came" by
troyswann
Sherman POV, gen or maybe Cooper/Sherman UST--author doesn't state their intent and I am a little biased, PG13, 1200 words
(Hosted at LJ)
This is a lovely, painful snippet of Sherman on a domestic call, talking with a kid (asking those weird, random questions like he does; sigh!), thinking about what it was like when he was the kid at the domestic call. And then it's the end of the watch and Cooper bes all--Cooper. As he does. Love.
It's tightly written and has a gorgeous flow, so, um. No quote again.
07. "6:30 pm. End of Shift and Then Some" by troyswann
Sherman POV, implied Cooper/Cesar, PG, 1600 words
(Hosted at LJ)
Written pre-"Maximum Deployment." Cooper has a back spasm. Sherman makes him go home and then tries to take care of him. Gets Cooper's reserve and privacy just right, and Sherman's "inexplicable" need to be the caretaker is perfect too.
I'm actually going to stop making excuses when I can't find a good quote. Okay!
08. "Choices" by maurheti
Sherman POV, possibly unrequited Sherman/Cooper UST, R, 800 words
(Hosted at LJ)
This is post-"Maximum Deployment," and I looooove it for the tiny, tiny glimpse of exhausted, frustrated, helpless Ben. He just wants to help Cooper! And Cooper just keeps closing the door in his face. I also love the idea of Ben having chronic/intermittent insomnia, for some reason, and this totally feeds that love.
He's so tired he can't sleep, can't even sit down; all he seems to be able to do is wander through his house: kitchen, living room, patio, living room, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom. He catches his reflection in the mirror. He should shave. He leans forward, palms on the marble vanity. Cold. It feels cold. It takes a while for that thought to form. He looks at himself. What do you want? It's not even a real question, more a statement, a reminder that he has choices.
Bedroom, kitchen, living room, patio. His bare feet are silent on the hardwood, the flagstones. Even in the sunshine, his palms still feel cold.
Living room. He looks around. He loves his house. It's the one thing besides his car and his bike that he spent serious money on. Transportation so he can leave. Shelter so he can stay.
09. "911 Call" by romanticalgirl
Sherman POV, Sherman/Cooper, NC17 a lot, 4000 words
(Hosted at LJ)
So, I would also suggest reading this author's other SL porn stories (except for "Garden Party," because the misogyny, it burns), but this is their very very best one. Sherman has a big hot crush on Cooper and masturbates a lot, and then loses control! And hits on Cooper. And then! It gets better.
(I'm not sure how I feel about the sex toy in this story. At least it's not black?)
10. "Son is on a Midnight Run Like DeNiro (or We're All Just Train Wrecks Waiting for the Crash)" by hackthis
Cooper POV, Cooper/Sherman, NC17, 40K words
(Hosted at LJ in four parts--part one linked above, the rest are at the end of the excerpt.)
Every fandom needs an epic first time story to start out with. And this is a fucking fantastic one. I tried to find another hackthis story to rec alongside it, but nothing compares (it's all worth reading! It's just. You know. Not "Midnight Run"). Cooper is a jerk in this, for all kinds of reasons, but he's also on a steady track towards not-jerkdom. And Sherman is Sherman, and apparently the one thing Cooper can't do is ignore that. Whee.
Also prominently features John's ~friend, Cesar! Yay! \o/
The rookie is unhappy. Of course, John would be unhappy too if he'd had to follow a perp into a make-shift landfill in the back of a Silverlake garden, because only rich assholes call it "composting" and not "being a lazy fucker who won't take out the trash."
And as soon as John stops laughing his ass off, he's going to make sure Sherman is okay. He really is. Except that Sherman's covered in carrot peelings and wilted lettuce and there's some orange sauce on his left sleeve, and oh god, John's lung capacity isn't prepared for this.
Then again, no part of John is prepared for Sherman to just strip off his shirt and his undershirt at the same time. The bright L.A. sun streams through the pine trees lining the driveway, casting patterns on Sherman's bare chest.
Too much information.
John clears his throat. "This isn't Chippendales, kid, put some clothes on."
Sherman rolls his eyes. "Sir, if you'd rather I get fruit salad all over the car, I can put this back on." Sherman shakes his balled up shirts at John.
John smirks. "You get it dirty, you clean it up, cupcake."
"Cupcake," Sherman tugs an LAPD windbreaker out of the trunk and pulls it on over his bare chest. It's pretty pornographic. John is going to stop looking now. "That's a new one."
Part I, part II, part III, part IV.
*
General peeve about Southland fic: Cooper has never called Sherman "kid" on the show, and I don't think Sherman would be down with it if he did (though you could argue the whole "don't call me 'kid'" bitchface was just for his dad, granted). On the other hand, if Cooper ever calls him "son" on TV, I will die with a sparkly heart. ANYWAY.
I'm going to clean the bathroom and go find somewhere to write. I have a gangster!Cooper and his bodyguard!Sherman story burning a hole in my pocket.
This is a DW-origin crospost, oh noes. Please comment on the original post here. There are currently
comments.
So. Well. Here's a Southland recs post! *confetti*
01. "A Little Mental Yoga" by
dsudis
Cooper POV, Sherman/Cooper, NC17, 17K words
(Hosted at AO3)
The One Where Sherman's A Telepath. Or, I dunno, receives people's thoughts. This is totally the first Southland story I ever read, easily a few months before I saw any of the show. I don't usually go for "psychic!" stories, but this one is pretty great. Set between s1 and s2, ish, I think.
John dragged his steps a little, debating whether to take the kid out somewhere and personally see to getting him plastered.
Ben shook his head wearily and said, "Believe me, man, it would just make it worse."
John stopped short and looked over at Ben. He knew for a fucking fact he hadn't somehow spoken without meaning to--and he saw Ben freeze, eyes going wide as he stared at the asphalt, every inch of his body bracing for a blow.
John was abruptly angry, the special anger that was reserved for the obviously guilty, because Ben had Yeah, I did it written all over him. It didn't even make sense, and John glared at him, furious, wanting to hit him, wanting to walk away, because he did not want to deal with this shit. What did you do? What the fuck did you do? What do I have to fucking deal with now?
02. "Space (What to Put In It)" by
missmollyetc
Cooper POV, Cooper/Sherman, quite a lot of R, 900 words
(Hosted at AO3)
Just a little bit of a thing. I kind of feel bad for Cooper here, you know? He just wants his casual, dirty sex routine, just wants to relax after a ridiculous day, and stupid Sherman's all cute and sleepy (like a puppy!) and sad and broken. Your life is hard, John. Very difficult. Yes.
Um. No quote, 'cause it's very short and Cooper thinks about sex a lot; sorry.
03. "California Stop" by wearemany
Cooper POV, Cooper/Sherman UST, 14A, 1200 words, crossover with the author's OC AU
(Hosted on LJ)
So, a while back, wearemany wrote a couple of really great stories where Ryan Atwood (played by Ben McKenzie, who plays Sherman on Southland) ended up a sex worker instead of going to live with the Cohens (they're seriously great, you should read them if you're familiar with The OC). And then she wrote this fantastic thing, which is partially some Cooper backstory, and partially some exploration of how Ryan and Sherman are actually pretty different characters, even though they're both quiet and skeptical and look good in undershirts.
I'm just not awesome at picking excerpts today. It's good! You should read it! Familiarity with The OC is not required for this one.
04. "Bloodbuzz" by wearemany
Cooper POV, Cooper/Sherman, NC17, 6000 words
(Hosted on LJ)
This is very sweet. Kind of old school. Ben's dad is an asshole, Cooper fixes things, possibly including himself.
Also, there's suit shopping. It's terrible, but I love watching characters who (probably--we don't actually have canon on this) hate shopping shop.
"What am I supposed to do?"
This is what kills him, how the kid actually gives a shit what John thinks. How he thinks John has real fucking advice to go with their respective, impressively fucked-up family histories.
"I don't know," John allows, buying a minute. Ben smiles at the edge of his mouth, embarrassed a little, John can tell, for being unsure how to handle the least lethal threat of their week. "You think you can go a whole night in the same room without punching him?"
"I don't know," Ben says. "Want to come see?" He shrugs, a different smile now creeping through. "I mean, he bought a whole table."
John laughs before he can stop himself. "You asking me to prom?"
Ben shrugs again, but his shoulders are looser, grin lighter.
"Yeah, what the fuck, okay," John says. "This mean I have to wear a fucking suit?"
05. "john, he trains to sing the blues" by fated_addiction
Chickie! Chickie Brown!!!, Chickie/Sherman UST, 14A, 1200 words
(Hosted at LJ)
This is the only Chickie POV story I've seen, and here is what I have to say about that: WRONG. More of this, fandom. Please and thank you! And maybe ones where she does fuck him. I would read a lot of that.
Post-s1 finale.
Sometime soon, Sherman does buy her a beer.
It's nowhere particular, a nameless city bar; they're the easiest to forget and remember, here and there like a desk calendar. He doesn't bring the motorcycle. She doesn't think about fucking him either. That's for retirement parties. And her stitches, they're still around anyway, waiting to fade a little faster.
She's wearing jeans and trying not to think about her kid. She tries not to call him Ben. She wants to. Her fingers strangle the neck of her beer and Sherman's staring off to the side, paying no attention to the band at the front. They’re not any good. And after awhile, she thinks about telling him, all house bands become the same.
"How'd it go?"
"It went."
He nods, "That's the word."
She tries to smile, but doesn't. She thinks of Cooper and how he'd shake his head at the two of them. Chickie, he'd say. Sherman, he'd add. And somewhere, up there, there'd be a word to wisdom about how partners should just be partners and how intermingling is a fucking stupid idea.
06. "Look How Far The Light Came" by
troyswann
Sherman POV, gen or maybe Cooper/Sherman UST--author doesn't state their intent and I am a little biased, PG13, 1200 words
(Hosted at LJ)
This is a lovely, painful snippet of Sherman on a domestic call, talking with a kid (asking those weird, random questions like he does; sigh!), thinking about what it was like when he was the kid at the domestic call. And then it's the end of the watch and Cooper bes all--Cooper. As he does. Love.
It's tightly written and has a gorgeous flow, so, um. No quote again.
07. "6:30 pm. End of Shift and Then Some" by troyswann
Sherman POV, implied Cooper/Cesar, PG, 1600 words
(Hosted at LJ)
Written pre-"Maximum Deployment." Cooper has a back spasm. Sherman makes him go home and then tries to take care of him. Gets Cooper's reserve and privacy just right, and Sherman's "inexplicable" need to be the caretaker is perfect too.
I'm actually going to stop making excuses when I can't find a good quote. Okay!
08. "Choices" by maurheti
Sherman POV, possibly unrequited Sherman/Cooper UST, R, 800 words
(Hosted at LJ)
This is post-"Maximum Deployment," and I looooove it for the tiny, tiny glimpse of exhausted, frustrated, helpless Ben. He just wants to help Cooper! And Cooper just keeps closing the door in his face. I also love the idea of Ben having chronic/intermittent insomnia, for some reason, and this totally feeds that love.
He's so tired he can't sleep, can't even sit down; all he seems to be able to do is wander through his house: kitchen, living room, patio, living room, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom. He catches his reflection in the mirror. He should shave. He leans forward, palms on the marble vanity. Cold. It feels cold. It takes a while for that thought to form. He looks at himself. What do you want? It's not even a real question, more a statement, a reminder that he has choices.
Bedroom, kitchen, living room, patio. His bare feet are silent on the hardwood, the flagstones. Even in the sunshine, his palms still feel cold.
Living room. He looks around. He loves his house. It's the one thing besides his car and his bike that he spent serious money on. Transportation so he can leave. Shelter so he can stay.
09. "911 Call" by romanticalgirl
Sherman POV, Sherman/Cooper, NC17 a lot, 4000 words
(Hosted at LJ)
So, I would also suggest reading this author's other SL porn stories (except for "Garden Party," because the misogyny, it burns), but this is their very very best one. Sherman has a big hot crush on Cooper and masturbates a lot, and then loses control! And hits on Cooper. And then! It gets better.
(I'm not sure how I feel about the sex toy in this story. At least it's not black?)
10. "Son is on a Midnight Run Like DeNiro (or We're All Just Train Wrecks Waiting for the Crash)" by hackthis
Cooper POV, Cooper/Sherman, NC17, 40K words
(Hosted at LJ in four parts--part one linked above, the rest are at the end of the excerpt.)
Every fandom needs an epic first time story to start out with. And this is a fucking fantastic one. I tried to find another hackthis story to rec alongside it, but nothing compares (it's all worth reading! It's just. You know. Not "Midnight Run"). Cooper is a jerk in this, for all kinds of reasons, but he's also on a steady track towards not-jerkdom. And Sherman is Sherman, and apparently the one thing Cooper can't do is ignore that. Whee.
Also prominently features John's ~friend, Cesar! Yay! \o/
The rookie is unhappy. Of course, John would be unhappy too if he'd had to follow a perp into a make-shift landfill in the back of a Silverlake garden, because only rich assholes call it "composting" and not "being a lazy fucker who won't take out the trash."
And as soon as John stops laughing his ass off, he's going to make sure Sherman is okay. He really is. Except that Sherman's covered in carrot peelings and wilted lettuce and there's some orange sauce on his left sleeve, and oh god, John's lung capacity isn't prepared for this.
Then again, no part of John is prepared for Sherman to just strip off his shirt and his undershirt at the same time. The bright L.A. sun streams through the pine trees lining the driveway, casting patterns on Sherman's bare chest.
Too much information.
John clears his throat. "This isn't Chippendales, kid, put some clothes on."
Sherman rolls his eyes. "Sir, if you'd rather I get fruit salad all over the car, I can put this back on." Sherman shakes his balled up shirts at John.
John smirks. "You get it dirty, you clean it up, cupcake."
"Cupcake," Sherman tugs an LAPD windbreaker out of the trunk and pulls it on over his bare chest. It's pretty pornographic. John is going to stop looking now. "That's a new one."
Part I, part II, part III, part IV.
*
General peeve about Southland fic: Cooper has never called Sherman "kid" on the show, and I don't think Sherman would be down with it if he did (though you could argue the whole "don't call me 'kid'" bitchface was just for his dad, granted). On the other hand, if Cooper ever calls him "son" on TV, I will die with a sparkly heart. ANYWAY.
I'm going to clean the bathroom and go find somewhere to write. I have a gangster!Cooper and his bodyguard!Sherman story burning a hole in my pocket.
This is a DW-origin crospost, oh noes. Please comment on the original post here. There are currently
comments.