Recommendations: 17 Fandoms, 8 Stories, 14 Vids
It's been about a year since I last actually did a recs post. That means I've discovered new fandoms and all sorts of stuff in between. I should have enough accumulated To Be Recced stuff that I can make a bi-weekly post for the forseeable future. I'm even going to try to keep doing this through Tax Season, though it's entirely possible I'll miss at least one post during the worst of peak (80-90 hour work weeks aren't particularly conducive to getting anything else done).
Alice
Rescue Me Vid by purely_distel -- Alice/Hatter
I adore Andrew Lee Potts, and frankly, most of the time I think he was the only redeeming quality of Alice. He's just so cute. Anyway, the song really works here and the editing produces a dream-like quality that I felt Alice should have had, but never really seemed to manage. Worth the watch if for no other reason than it's pretty.
The Avengers
I Trust You to Kill Me by ghostrunner7 - R/NC-17, Phil Coulson/Clint Barton
Do you know that even though this film hasn't even come out yet, there's already so much fanwork for it that it was almost ruled ineligible for this year's Yuletide. I find that amazing. I'd argue that's because the Avengers movie is really a verse made up of the 2 Iron Man movies, Thor, Captain America, one or more of The Hulk movies, and The Avengers, and this definitely plays on that. It goes places the movie almost certainly won't, and not just because they're unlikely to spend enough time on either Coulson or Clint to develop a romance, but I love it anyway. Clint's character is definitely fleshed out by Hawkeye in the comics, and I love him, always have, but it's Phil Coulson that makes me adore this story. Coulson can be pretty easy to dismiss as the administrator who doesn't really do much but push paper, but Phil Coulson is a former Army Ranger and NSA agent. He's a competent, and deadly man in his own right. I like that this highlighted how dangers Phil can be, and how deceptive his blandly mild demeanor is.
Friday Night Lights
I Want it All Vid by bananainpyjamas -- Gen, Smash Williams
Okay, so I'm not entirely sold on this show yet. After much coercion, I've watched a good part of the first season. It's good enough that I keep watching more, but not good enough that I feel particularly fannish. But then this video crossed my friendslist, and I decided to check it out primarily for the music. It's fabulous. One of the best sports-oriented videos I've seen ever, and it really gets to the heart of this character. It might even make me care enough about the fandom to look for more.
Harry Potter
Disarm Vid by obsessive24 -- Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
I love this Smashing Pumpkins song so I might be a little biased, but I think it works very well here. The vid is one part Draco character study and one part Draco/Harry dysfunctional and really frustrated romance. It draws a lot of interesting parallels between the two of them, and the editing is gorgeous.
Psych
Personal Jesus Vid by tallisen -- Gen, Shawn Spencer
This would have never occurred to me, but it works really really well. I'm not fond of the coloration on this vid, but I love everything else about it enough that I won't complain too much.
Take Me or Leave Me Vid by Dana L -- Shawn Spencer/Carlton Lassiter
So, this song would be absolutely perfect for them if it wasn't about a lesbian couple. Ignore that the occasional girl references, and it works wonderfully well. I love this show, love this song, and love these two characters. Great vid.
Sherlock
Beautiful Ideas by metisket -- PGish, Gen, Mike Stamford, John Watson, Sherlock Holmes
Without Mike, Sherlock and John would never have even met. This is Sherlock and John through Mike's eyes, and it is delightful. One of the best bits of genfic I've found in this fandom.
Oh No! Vid by multiKitten -- Gennish, Sherlock Holmes
Basically a Sherlock character study with a single line that feels kind of John/Sherlock shippy. Not a style I'm typically fond of, and there's an awful lot of pink, but I thought this was really nicely done, and the lyrics work exceptionally well for Sherlock.
Stargate: SG-1
N is for New by redbyrd -- Gen, G, Jonas Quinn, Teal'c, Samantha Carter
This is a nice little piece set right after Jonas comes to the mountain and stays. Lots of things are different for him, right down to food, and that's one part of this. Another part is looking at how and why Teal'c and Sam's reactions to Jonas differ. Still another part looks at how Daniel is still having an impact on Jonas' life, even though he barely knew the man. That's an awful lot for one fairly short little slice of life style fic to manage, but this does. It's excellent as are all of redbyrd's Stargate fics.
Supernatural
Burn Up in the Light Vid by truthgraphix -- Dean Winchester/Castiel
Not a happy shiny vid. It's a pretty dark look at Dean and Castiel (with a little bit of Crowley thrown in because everything is better with Crowley). The clips can feel a little repetitive (though I don't actually think there are any repeats, Cas and Dean just stare at each other a lot), but I'd never realized before how often Dean actively avoids making eye contact with Cas. Like I said, not a happy vid, but I think it's well done, and probably a more realistic view of the relationship than any happy vid could be.
Draw the Line Vid by ee_p_dee -- Gen, Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester
This is quite pretty and fits the David Gray song well. It's a good overview of the Winchester's journey (if not exactly chronological), and does have Season 7 spoilers if you haven't watched yet. Very nice.
Losing Your Memory Vid by ashdoode -- Bobby Singer
Spoilers for 7x10. I recommend saving this for later if you haven't seen the episode. Gorgeous and heartbreaking.
Thor
Chaos War by astolat -- Explicit, Loki/Thor
Mostly set in the universe created by the 2011 film, astolat freely borrows from comics and Norse mythology as necessary to build this story. The Bifrost has been repaired. Loki is running around, apparently mostly on Midgard. And Asgard is as war with The Shining Ones, a war they are losing. Because he's a genius, Odin realizes what must be done and sends Thor to bring Loki home. What follows is a war fought in a completely unconventional way that neither Thor nor his warriors (with the possible exception of Sif who is awesome) can begin to comprehend. This is a pairing that treads perilously close to my not entirely silent incest squick (because yeah, there are a couple of pairings that have managed to blow it all to hell, but generally I'm still pretty squicked), but I thought it was dealt with nicely. Thor thinks of Loki as brother, and that is important here. Loki is almost incomprehensible, but as always, my favorite part of it all. He's a genius, and just mad enough to make this work. It's not really a romance, though there is some sex in it, and yet the pairing feels inevitable. Really nicely done, one of my favorite things Astolat has ever written and as she's written a lot of things that I greatly love, that's saying something.
Set Fire to the Rain Vid by talitha78, remastered by isagel -- Thor/Loki
With the exception of some rather shippy lyrics, I actually think the video reads as fairly gen, though it is all about the relationship between Thor and Loki. This is beautifully done, and it makes the movie look much more interesting than it actually was.
White Collar
The Family Business by
sholio -- PG, Gen, Peter Burke, Neal Caffrey
Peter and Neal go undercover as father and son master thieves. Do I have to say anything else. This is great. Peter enjoys his role a little more than he'd really like to admit. Neal has more angles than anyone can keep up with. It's fun and endearing and captures them beautifully.
X-Men: First Class
Killing for Love Vid by greensilver -- Charles Xavier/Erik Lensherr
This is kind of a strange thing, and I'm still not entirely sure that I actually like it, but I keep watching it, so I'm going to rec it here and let all of you decide if you actually like it. It's Charles and Erik and their differing philosophies following them into their dreams. Uses clips from a number of other sources. I like the song for them, and there's something mesmerizing about the vid.
Rolling in the Deep Vid by arefadedaway -- Erik Lensherr/Charles Xavier
Sadly, the vid is no longer available in a streaming format. It's good enough that I recommend downloading it. I suppose it could have been called a crossover, or I might have just labeled this category X-Men: movieverse, because this vid does utilize clips from the other 3 X-Men movies. It really feels like a First Class vid to me though, that just uses that extra footage to help tell the story. It's heartbreaking, and I think this was the first time I'd ever actually listened to the lyrics of the song, which fit Charles and Erik so very well. It really captures the doomed friendship/romance aspect of Charles and Erik's relationship. Beautiful.
Crossovers
Buffyverse/Leverage
I Act Out and You Act Tough by Greenripper -- Explicit, Faith Lehane/Eliot Spencer
I have no idea why Eliot is in the middle of nowhere and even less idea why Faith is, but they meet in a bar and then weirdness happens. I liked this mostly for the Eliot characterization. This is exactly how I imagine he would react to finding out that the things that go bump in the night are all real.
Castle/White Collar
Five Ways Crime Does Pay by celli -- Teen+, Gen, Ensemble
This is delightful. It's relatively short. The two teams come together to work on a case. Castle's reactions to Neal are perfect, and Neal's showboating is equally perfect. Peter and Becket as their less than impressed partners are amusing. I always thought this would work, but I didn't have the story to go with it. Celli just proved you don't actually have to have much of a story to go with it, the plot is kind of thin on the ground, but the characterization is spot on.
Criminal Minds/Supernatural
Seeing the Same by jaune_chat -- PG-13,Gen, Emily Prentiss, Sam, Dean, Victor Hendrickson
I don't much care for Emily, but for some reason this strange little fic where Hendrickson sent an email to Emily before his death that resulted in her learning about all the weirdness in the world just works for me.
Doctor Who/Sherlock
A Study in Time Vid by di_br -- Gen, Sherlock, John Watson, Ten
This is a trailer for the epic Doctor Who/Sherlock crossover episode we probably aren't ever going to get. But it would be delightful and this is incredibly well done. I kind of desperately want to read a fic that goes along with it now, though. I'd write it myself, but I don't really think I'm capable of writing competently in the Whoverse.
Merlin/Stargate: SG-1
Stargate: Camelot Vid by -- Gen, Ensemble
This weaves together the Merlin and Morgan Le Fay as Ancients story with BBC's Merlin. It's very well done, feels like a trailer for the episode that never happened, and much like the Who/Sherlock vid above, now I want a story that goes with it.
Alice
Rescue Me Vid by purely_distel -- Alice/Hatter
I adore Andrew Lee Potts, and frankly, most of the time I think he was the only redeeming quality of Alice. He's just so cute. Anyway, the song really works here and the editing produces a dream-like quality that I felt Alice should have had, but never really seemed to manage. Worth the watch if for no other reason than it's pretty.
The Avengers
I Trust You to Kill Me by ghostrunner7 - R/NC-17, Phil Coulson/Clint Barton
Do you know that even though this film hasn't even come out yet, there's already so much fanwork for it that it was almost ruled ineligible for this year's Yuletide. I find that amazing. I'd argue that's because the Avengers movie is really a verse made up of the 2 Iron Man movies, Thor, Captain America, one or more of The Hulk movies, and The Avengers, and this definitely plays on that. It goes places the movie almost certainly won't, and not just because they're unlikely to spend enough time on either Coulson or Clint to develop a romance, but I love it anyway. Clint's character is definitely fleshed out by Hawkeye in the comics, and I love him, always have, but it's Phil Coulson that makes me adore this story. Coulson can be pretty easy to dismiss as the administrator who doesn't really do much but push paper, but Phil Coulson is a former Army Ranger and NSA agent. He's a competent, and deadly man in his own right. I like that this highlighted how dangers Phil can be, and how deceptive his blandly mild demeanor is.
Friday Night Lights
I Want it All Vid by bananainpyjamas -- Gen, Smash Williams
Okay, so I'm not entirely sold on this show yet. After much coercion, I've watched a good part of the first season. It's good enough that I keep watching more, but not good enough that I feel particularly fannish. But then this video crossed my friendslist, and I decided to check it out primarily for the music. It's fabulous. One of the best sports-oriented videos I've seen ever, and it really gets to the heart of this character. It might even make me care enough about the fandom to look for more.
Harry Potter
Disarm Vid by obsessive24 -- Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
I love this Smashing Pumpkins song so I might be a little biased, but I think it works very well here. The vid is one part Draco character study and one part Draco/Harry dysfunctional and really frustrated romance. It draws a lot of interesting parallels between the two of them, and the editing is gorgeous.
Psych
Personal Jesus Vid by tallisen -- Gen, Shawn Spencer
This would have never occurred to me, but it works really really well. I'm not fond of the coloration on this vid, but I love everything else about it enough that I won't complain too much.
Take Me or Leave Me Vid by Dana L -- Shawn Spencer/Carlton Lassiter
So, this song would be absolutely perfect for them if it wasn't about a lesbian couple. Ignore that the occasional girl references, and it works wonderfully well. I love this show, love this song, and love these two characters. Great vid.
Sherlock
Beautiful Ideas by metisket -- PGish, Gen, Mike Stamford, John Watson, Sherlock Holmes
Without Mike, Sherlock and John would never have even met. This is Sherlock and John through Mike's eyes, and it is delightful. One of the best bits of genfic I've found in this fandom.
Oh No! Vid by multiKitten -- Gennish, Sherlock Holmes
Basically a Sherlock character study with a single line that feels kind of John/Sherlock shippy. Not a style I'm typically fond of, and there's an awful lot of pink, but I thought this was really nicely done, and the lyrics work exceptionally well for Sherlock.
Stargate: SG-1
N is for New by redbyrd -- Gen, G, Jonas Quinn, Teal'c, Samantha Carter
This is a nice little piece set right after Jonas comes to the mountain and stays. Lots of things are different for him, right down to food, and that's one part of this. Another part is looking at how and why Teal'c and Sam's reactions to Jonas differ. Still another part looks at how Daniel is still having an impact on Jonas' life, even though he barely knew the man. That's an awful lot for one fairly short little slice of life style fic to manage, but this does. It's excellent as are all of redbyrd's Stargate fics.
Supernatural
Burn Up in the Light Vid by truthgraphix -- Dean Winchester/Castiel
Not a happy shiny vid. It's a pretty dark look at Dean and Castiel (with a little bit of Crowley thrown in because everything is better with Crowley). The clips can feel a little repetitive (though I don't actually think there are any repeats, Cas and Dean just stare at each other a lot), but I'd never realized before how often Dean actively avoids making eye contact with Cas. Like I said, not a happy vid, but I think it's well done, and probably a more realistic view of the relationship than any happy vid could be.
Draw the Line Vid by ee_p_dee -- Gen, Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester
This is quite pretty and fits the David Gray song well. It's a good overview of the Winchester's journey (if not exactly chronological), and does have Season 7 spoilers if you haven't watched yet. Very nice.
Losing Your Memory Vid by ashdoode -- Bobby Singer
Spoilers for 7x10. I recommend saving this for later if you haven't seen the episode. Gorgeous and heartbreaking.
Thor
Chaos War by astolat -- Explicit, Loki/Thor
Mostly set in the universe created by the 2011 film, astolat freely borrows from comics and Norse mythology as necessary to build this story. The Bifrost has been repaired. Loki is running around, apparently mostly on Midgard. And Asgard is as war with The Shining Ones, a war they are losing. Because he's a genius, Odin realizes what must be done and sends Thor to bring Loki home. What follows is a war fought in a completely unconventional way that neither Thor nor his warriors (with the possible exception of Sif who is awesome) can begin to comprehend. This is a pairing that treads perilously close to my not entirely silent incest squick (because yeah, there are a couple of pairings that have managed to blow it all to hell, but generally I'm still pretty squicked), but I thought it was dealt with nicely. Thor thinks of Loki as brother, and that is important here. Loki is almost incomprehensible, but as always, my favorite part of it all. He's a genius, and just mad enough to make this work. It's not really a romance, though there is some sex in it, and yet the pairing feels inevitable. Really nicely done, one of my favorite things Astolat has ever written and as she's written a lot of things that I greatly love, that's saying something.
Set Fire to the Rain Vid by talitha78, remastered by isagel -- Thor/Loki
With the exception of some rather shippy lyrics, I actually think the video reads as fairly gen, though it is all about the relationship between Thor and Loki. This is beautifully done, and it makes the movie look much more interesting than it actually was.
White Collar
The Family Business by
sholio -- PG, Gen, Peter Burke, Neal Caffrey
Peter and Neal go undercover as father and son master thieves. Do I have to say anything else. This is great. Peter enjoys his role a little more than he'd really like to admit. Neal has more angles than anyone can keep up with. It's fun and endearing and captures them beautifully.
X-Men: First Class
Killing for Love Vid by greensilver -- Charles Xavier/Erik Lensherr
This is kind of a strange thing, and I'm still not entirely sure that I actually like it, but I keep watching it, so I'm going to rec it here and let all of you decide if you actually like it. It's Charles and Erik and their differing philosophies following them into their dreams. Uses clips from a number of other sources. I like the song for them, and there's something mesmerizing about the vid.
Rolling in the Deep Vid by arefadedaway -- Erik Lensherr/Charles Xavier
Sadly, the vid is no longer available in a streaming format. It's good enough that I recommend downloading it. I suppose it could have been called a crossover, or I might have just labeled this category X-Men: movieverse, because this vid does utilize clips from the other 3 X-Men movies. It really feels like a First Class vid to me though, that just uses that extra footage to help tell the story. It's heartbreaking, and I think this was the first time I'd ever actually listened to the lyrics of the song, which fit Charles and Erik so very well. It really captures the doomed friendship/romance aspect of Charles and Erik's relationship. Beautiful.
Crossovers
Buffyverse/Leverage
I Act Out and You Act Tough by Greenripper -- Explicit, Faith Lehane/Eliot Spencer
I have no idea why Eliot is in the middle of nowhere and even less idea why Faith is, but they meet in a bar and then weirdness happens. I liked this mostly for the Eliot characterization. This is exactly how I imagine he would react to finding out that the things that go bump in the night are all real.
Castle/White Collar
Five Ways Crime Does Pay by celli -- Teen+, Gen, Ensemble
This is delightful. It's relatively short. The two teams come together to work on a case. Castle's reactions to Neal are perfect, and Neal's showboating is equally perfect. Peter and Becket as their less than impressed partners are amusing. I always thought this would work, but I didn't have the story to go with it. Celli just proved you don't actually have to have much of a story to go with it, the plot is kind of thin on the ground, but the characterization is spot on.
Criminal Minds/Supernatural
Seeing the Same by jaune_chat -- PG-13,Gen, Emily Prentiss, Sam, Dean, Victor Hendrickson
I don't much care for Emily, but for some reason this strange little fic where Hendrickson sent an email to Emily before his death that resulted in her learning about all the weirdness in the world just works for me.
Doctor Who/Sherlock
A Study in Time Vid by di_br -- Gen, Sherlock, John Watson, Ten
This is a trailer for the epic Doctor Who/Sherlock crossover episode we probably aren't ever going to get. But it would be delightful and this is incredibly well done. I kind of desperately want to read a fic that goes along with it now, though. I'd write it myself, but I don't really think I'm capable of writing competently in the Whoverse.
Merlin/Stargate: SG-1
Stargate: Camelot Vid by -- Gen, Ensemble
This weaves together the Merlin and Morgan Le Fay as Ancients story with BBC's Merlin. It's very well done, feels like a trailer for the episode that never happened, and much like the Who/Sherlock vid above, now I want a story that goes with it.