Fic recs: Fast & Furious and The Vampire Diaries
Okay, I finally got around to reading 
astolat’s Fast & Furious fics. They were all enjoyable to various extents. I particularly liked these. Rated mature to explicit.
Truth and Consequences - Brian/Dom, Dom/Letty, Brian/Mia, Brian/Dom/Letty/Mia, 11,000 words
Dom/Brian that incorporates Mia and/or Letty is perhaps my favorite F&F relationship. Sedoretu setups in which Dom and Mia don’t have to interact sexually can work just as well as outright threesomes and foursomes. “Truth and Consequences” is great in that it does the foursome without glossing over the awkwardness of combining these relationships or Dom’s discomfort that both he and Mia are participating.
The Harder Road - Dom/Brian, Roman, Tej, Vince, Mia, etc.; Lompoc and beyond; 9,000 words
A prison story, with all the attendant consent issues. And then something else. Convincing characterization of Brian as an adrenaline junkie hanging from one hinge.
Life Sentence - Dom/Brian, the one with the soulbonding except not really except maybe, 20,000 words
Dom’s been sent to Lompoc and decides to take his only ticket out: volunteering for soulbonding. Brian’s been sent to collect him. Road trips, escape attempts, truck heists and unexpected connections ensue. Quite an enjoyable ride.
The first half of The Next Quarter Mile - Brian/Mia, Dom/Brian, X-Men crossover, 15,700 words
Cool crossover that takes advantage of what crossovers can do: use one canon to provide insight into another canon’s characters. Not sure I buy Brian’s characterization as revealed by Xavier, but it’s certainly intriguing, and the story setup, the nature of the F&F characters’ mutations and their reactions to discovering those mutations are all great.
The Vampire Diaries
I don’t know the reason (I stayed here all season), Damon/Alaric, Damon/lots of others*, 20,000 words, explicit
Could have sworn I’d recommended Ark’s Damon/Alaric fic before, but it seems not? Ark’s stories are basically the template for Damon/Alaric. After opening this bookmark from 2012, I feel I have read Ark’s magnum opus for this pairing.
Plot: Damon, after losing Alaric, the one person he’s ever let himself love, progresses through non-traditional stages of grief: denial, obsession, role assumption, alcohol, sex, therapy, determination to get him back, acceptance. It’s long and emotionally complex and character-driven, and what really sells it is the wonderfully lively and wry narrative voice.The slender jut of Elena's hipbone presses tight and she quirks a little half-smile. “I know you want to,” she says. “I can feel how much you want to. Let's have some fun. Aren't you always telling me to have more fun?” The smile slides towards poutingly persuasive. “You're fun.”
Damon isn't fun. Doesn't think he's been anything like fun for a good long while, but with his little brother the bloody wet blanket and Donovan the walking toothpaste commercial as her only other points of male erotic reference, he supposes he's motherfucking Disneyworld.
The therapist in particular is a riot. Elijah is sexy, although it's hard for him not to be. And you can really feel how much Damon has been knocked on his ass by Alaric's death without it being sappy or over-the-top angsty. A+, reminds me why I liked this show. Makes me wish I weren’t a season behind because of episode availability.
*Let’s see: Damon/Elijah, Damon/Elena, Damon/Shane, Damon/OMC, plus background pairings
Originally posted at http://bironic.dreamwidth.org/320763.html, where there are
comments.
astolat’s Fast & Furious fics. They were all enjoyable to various extents. I particularly liked these. Rated mature to explicit.
Truth and Consequences - Brian/Dom, Dom/Letty, Brian/Mia, Brian/Dom/Letty/Mia, 11,000 words
Dom/Brian that incorporates Mia and/or Letty is perhaps my favorite F&F relationship. Sedoretu setups in which Dom and Mia don’t have to interact sexually can work just as well as outright threesomes and foursomes. “Truth and Consequences” is great in that it does the foursome without glossing over the awkwardness of combining these relationships or Dom’s discomfort that both he and Mia are participating.
The Harder Road - Dom/Brian, Roman, Tej, Vince, Mia, etc.; Lompoc and beyond; 9,000 words
A prison story, with all the attendant consent issues. And then something else. Convincing characterization of Brian as an adrenaline junkie hanging from one hinge.
Life Sentence - Dom/Brian, the one with the soulbonding except not really except maybe, 20,000 words
Dom’s been sent to Lompoc and decides to take his only ticket out: volunteering for soulbonding. Brian’s been sent to collect him. Road trips, escape attempts, truck heists and unexpected connections ensue. Quite an enjoyable ride.
The first half of The Next Quarter Mile - Brian/Mia, Dom/Brian, X-Men crossover, 15,700 words
Cool crossover that takes advantage of what crossovers can do: use one canon to provide insight into another canon’s characters. Not sure I buy Brian’s characterization as revealed by Xavier, but it’s certainly intriguing, and the story setup, the nature of the F&F characters’ mutations and their reactions to discovering those mutations are all great.
The Vampire Diaries
I don’t know the reason (I stayed here all season), Damon/Alaric, Damon/lots of others*, 20,000 words, explicit
Could have sworn I’d recommended Ark’s Damon/Alaric fic before, but it seems not? Ark’s stories are basically the template for Damon/Alaric. After opening this bookmark from 2012, I feel I have read Ark’s magnum opus for this pairing.
Plot: Damon, after losing Alaric, the one person he’s ever let himself love, progresses through non-traditional stages of grief: denial, obsession, role assumption, alcohol, sex, therapy, determination to get him back, acceptance. It’s long and emotionally complex and character-driven, and what really sells it is the wonderfully lively and wry narrative voice.The slender jut of Elena's hipbone presses tight and she quirks a little half-smile. “I know you want to,” she says. “I can feel how much you want to. Let's have some fun. Aren't you always telling me to have more fun?” The smile slides towards poutingly persuasive. “You're fun.”
Damon isn't fun. Doesn't think he's been anything like fun for a good long while, but with his little brother the bloody wet blanket and Donovan the walking toothpaste commercial as her only other points of male erotic reference, he supposes he's motherfucking Disneyworld.
The therapist in particular is a riot. Elijah is sexy, although it's hard for him not to be. And you can really feel how much Damon has been knocked on his ass by Alaric's death without it being sappy or over-the-top angsty. A+, reminds me why I liked this show. Makes me wish I weren’t a season behind because of episode availability.
*Let’s see: Damon/Elijah, Damon/Elena, Damon/Shane, Damon/OMC, plus background pairings
Originally posted at http://bironic.dreamwidth.org/320763.html, where there are
comments.