Fic and Vid Recommendations -- 29 Fics and 10 Vids
Here's another of my fairly irregular Rec Posts. It's a little heavy to Supernatural (mostly gen, with a couple of Dean/Castiel fics tossed in) and Star Trek XI (Mostly gen this time around) with a fair number of crossovers as well.
I'm getting close to finished with Season 3 of Supernatural, and I'd guess that I've seen about 1/2 of Season 4 (though not necessarily in order) already, so there will probably be more recs in that fandom next time.
The Dresden Files -- Bookverse
A Family in Five Acts by gehayi -- PG, Gen, The Archive aka Ivy
This is a wonderful story about how a little girl born with the knowledge of every written word throughout history gains a friend, a name, and finally a family. I love both the idea of the Archive and the reality of Ivy, and this story does a fair job of showing why.
Johnny's Little Secret by shiplizard -- PG-13, gennish with some implied slash, pre-canon John Marcone
Gentleman John Marcone is one of my very favorite things about this series. He intrigues me, and I've always kind of hoped for more backstory for him. This is a very nice piece. It is clearly meant to set things up for the author to write Dresden/Marcone slash later, but I don't feel like it has to be about that. It's about how someone other than Dresden can see the really scary parts of Marcone, and yet still be fiercely loyal to him. As she puts it, it's more about a friend's reaction to a boy doing things with boys than it is about boys doing things with boys. It's really nicely done.
Mary's Song by crevanfox -- PG-13, Gen, The Archive aka Ivy
This is a very short exploration of Ivy. I fell in love with her when she was very first introduced. The concept of The Archive is almost endlessly fascinating, but it is the part of Ivy that is still just a little girl who loves little girl things that makes her special. This explores that dichotomy really well.
Secrets by persephoneflame -- Unrated, I'd say PGish, gen with some implied pre-canon Marcone/Male slash, John Marcone
This story has a similar sort of theme to Johnny's Little Secret, but on a much grander scale. Marcone's life is all about secrets, but they get bigger and more important as his life goes on. I love this.
Fastlane
Desperate Guys Vid by bionic -- Unrated, PG-13ish, Van/Deaq
Is it a little pathetic that I'm still upset that this show only lasted for one season. It never had a huge fandom, and it certainly hasn't grown since it's early end, but I loved it. I'd probably rec any newish work I saw for Fastlane for that reason alone. I'm happy to say that this is not only a nice bit of nostalgia for me, but really very nicely put together. It maintains the flavor of the show in a way that a lot of vids don't. I don't know the song or the artist (The Faint), but they fit really well. Watch for the pretty if nothing else.
Numb3rs
Just an Exercise by calamitycrow -- PG-13, Gen, Ian Edgerton
This was written for zombie_fest. Mostly it's a silly little bit of a character exercise for one of my favorite minor recurring characters with a bonus of Cal Sci professors arguing about zombies and the ethics of killing them. Really cute, short, and definitely worth a look.
Real Ghostbusters
Circles and Stone by omorka -- PG, Peter/Egon with unrequited Janine/Egon (The author claims this barely even qualifies as slash, and I would tend to agree. Two brief scenes of male/male kissing is all that's explicitly slashy)
I honestly can't even tell you how I came across omorka's Ghostbusters fanfiction. It seems to have been sitting around on my to be read list for more than a little while now. I was kind of intrigued by the idea of Ghostbusters fanfic, and first read a light and fluffy Ray/Egon fic based in the movieverse. It was cute and sweet, so I read the rest of her movieverse fic. I enjoyed it all, though not really enough to make me rec it. I was a little more reluctant to read the cartoon!verse stuff. There were a couple of reasons. First, it's been so long since I've been a consumer of that fandom that it felt almost foreign to me, and as much as I love the films, the RGB characters are a little off from the movie!verse and there's a lot of fairly technical canon involved. Beyond that, most of her stuff is slash, and while I'm a merry little slasher at heart happily reading slash into pretty much everything I watch as an adult. I've made a reasonable effort to keep my slash-goggles off when thinking about childhood favorites. Still, I watched a few episodes on Youtube. It's amazing how easy it is to get hooked back into things from childhood. The writing is not as good as I remember. Slimer is by far more annoying. Overall, though, I feel like the show holds up remarkably well. It also fairly drips with subtext. I can pretty much ship Peter, Ray, and Egon in any combination, and I also still ship Janine/Egon and possibly Janine/Egon/Ray (though I don't think it works as well for me with Peter as their third). I do not ship Winston with anyone, though I do adore him. Now, on to why this particular story made the recs list. It hits a lot of my buttons. First the romantic subplot is definitely sub. In fact, if you ignore a handful of scenes where someone (usually Peter) says or thinks explicitly romantic things, the love the team all shares seems pretty equal. It's about the bust, first and foremost and I love that. Second, despite the fact that it is at least ostsensibly a story about how Peter and Egon finally after twenty years or so, act on their mutual love, it doesn't shortchange a single character. Janine is kick-ass and just marvelously competent. Ray is everything I love about cartoon!Ray. He's the mage of the group. His magic is a part of who he is, and it's a part that the rest of them don't really understand. He's also the most incredibly innocent for all of the bad things that have happened to them. He lives life more fully engaged than pretty much anyone else, ever. Winston is steady and calm, and more perceptive than the others often give him credit for. He's not quite a part of the inner circle, but he doesn't seem to mind. In fact he's more effective for it, even if he does love them like brothers. Third, it's definitely in the genre of the whole team-member in peril kind of thing. Beyond all of that, it's beautifully written.
Star Trek XI
Bet On It Vid by culf -- Not Rated, PG-13ish, Genish, Kirk
This is really nicely put together. The song is apparently from High School Musical, which kind of amuses me, but the lyrics are really quite perfect. The concept seems to be that with the destruction of the Kelvin, Kirk's rightful future was snatched away, but he gets it back. Some TOS clips are used to great effect. I just really enjoyed this, and I had kind of thought that I was done reccing at least Kirk-centric vids because we've seen all the material so many times.
Common Knowledge by miss_porcupine -- Not Rated, I'd say PG, Gen, Pike
I love this little look at Chris Pike's career with Starfleet. It's an interesting format, and a really great, if exceedingly short backstory. This is the first of 3 miss_porcupine fics on this list. All three of them can clearly exist in the same created universe, but it's not necessary to read them all.
Determining the Equant by miss_porcupine -- Not Rated, I'd say G, Gen, Pike
Christopher Pike from his arrival at Starfleet Academy with Jim Kirk in tow to leaving with a largely inexperienced crew for Vulcan. This is great stuff. I really enjoy movie Pike (as compared to TOS Pike which I have very little opinion on at all), and it's good to see him in ways that don't always directly revolve around his involvement with the Kirk family. This is the second of 3 miss_porcupine fics on this list. This one has some thematic connections to the first, and some more direct connections with the third, but all can be read as stand-alone.
Of the Bluest Skies by irnan -- PG-13, Kirk, Carol Marcus, David
Carol and David appear in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. If you're unfamiliar with it, this might not be quite as much fun. Carol is an old girlfriend of Kirk's and David is their son. In the original timeline, Carol more or less told Kirk to leave, and he never really sees David. The premise here is that this new Kirk who grew up without a father would never ever allow anything like that to happen. There's no current pairing here, but they are all perfect.
Shooting the Moon by miss_porcupine -- Not Rated, I'd call it PG, Gen, Kirk
This is a perfectly wonderful look at Kirk's time at the Academy, complete with classes that kick his ass, a great roommate, and the first couple of attempts at the Kobayashi Maru. It also has one of the more interesting interpretations of what's up with Winona Kirk while all this goes on, that I've seen. This is the third of 3 miss_porcupine fics on this list. All three seem to exist in the same created universe (lots of backstory between them), and there are some direct ties between this one and the second. All can be read as stand-alone stories.
This is Growing Up by Dira -- PG, Gen, McCoy, Chekov
I don't really love the new Chekov. I don't hate him or anything, but, probably for no reason other than a simple lack of time, he just doesn't have a lot of depth. There's nothing there for me to grab onto and say that he interests me. I do however find the accent even more annoying than I ever found it from Walter Koenig. That said, I adore this fic and this Chekov. It's the aftermath of the film, and McCoy is making sure that nobody has any injuries (physical or otherwise) that need attending to. That leads to a little heart-to-heart with Chekov about losing people. Lovely work.
You're Gonna Make It After All by igrockspock -- R, Genish with some Kirk/Gaila and some Spock/Uhura UST, Gaila
I've never really thought much about Gaila. Frankly it never even occurred to me to even write her into fic about the other characters, much less write a story about her. This one came highly recommended, and it's Academy fic. I love stories about everyone's time at the Academy. So I read it anyway. I'm so very glad I did. This takes a character that we barely saw and was essentially nothing more than a sexy charicature and a nod to all the old-school fans who remember what Orions are like, and turns her into a real person with a not always pleasant history. I can also completely see her getting into trouble with human sexual morality issues. Hell half the common cultural rules surrounding sex don't make sense to me, and I've grown up with them. How would someone from a much more sexually permissive culture ever hope to understand, particularly when you consider that actually talking about sex is often seen as taboo. The story made me laugh, and I think it is primarily intended to be humor, but there's so much more to it.
Stargate: Atlantis
2 Atoms in a Molecule (or Why John Sheppard is an Emotional Simpleton) Vid by zoetrope -- Unrated, John/Rodney
I love the style of this vid, which incorporates drawings in a really fun way. This is short. I kind of love the song. Streaming and Download links in the post, and the streaming version is of a very nice quality.
It's Growing Day by Day by Telesilla -- Not Rated, I'd call it PG-13, Fairly gennish team-centric but includes John/Rodney
This is a perfectly lovely little piece about the team being stranded off-world with no hope of rescue. They survive, barely at first, and then things get better. They all grow. They tell stories (Rodney apparently knows the entire Oz book series which I find quite entertaining), they learn new skills or hone old ones, and they learn each other and themselves. In the end, they're still pretty much all varying shades of bad at talking about their feelings, but they do seem to be better at doing something about them.
Supernatural
The Baffled King Composing Hallelujah by kadiel_krieger -- Rated Teen, Genish, Sam
I can't believe I'm reccing a story that is primarily about Sam, but this I love. The story is about Sam's complicated relationship with faith, belief, prayer, God, demons, and angels. It starts when he's just a child and ends with the season 4 finale, so if you haven't seen and don't want to know then don't read this right now, but do read it.
Code of the Boys by dodger_winslow -- R, Gen, pre-series, John
This is relatively short. It's a quiet little fic, more about John's thoughts and feelings about his boys than anything else. What really strikes me with this story is just how well he knows them, and how easy it is to reconcile, in this John Winchester, both the guy that made Sam furious and the guy we meet in the series who so clearly adores his children.
Cross-Country by zillah_fic -- R, Gen, pre-series, Dean, John
The author pulls a line from Devil's Trap to act as a kind of tag to this fic: "For you or Dad, the things I'm willing to do or kill.... It scares me sometimes." This story takes you back to one of the times Dean killed for his father. It's a fairly horrifying story. Dean's still mostly a child in a world that is far too scary for anyone his age to ever have to see. He's clearly been hunting with his Dad for awhile, but nothing like this has ever happened. And yeah, Dean would absolutely do what he does here for John or Sam either one. He'd do it in an instant, and never even really regret it. It's probably right that scares him.
I'll Never Forget the Way You Look Tonight by cjmarlowe -- PG-13, Gen, Sam, Dean, Bobby
It's the end of the world, or at least it is to hear Sam talk. Dean quite rightly points out that the world did not end as they are still there. The nature of the apocalypse is almost entirely unexpected in the Supernatural Universe. The characterization in this delightfully cracked short fic is pitch perfect.
It's the End of the World as We Know It Vid by deirdre_c -- Unrated, PG-13ish, Gen
I love this song. It might actually be my favorite REM song, and it is pretty perfect for Supernatural. I'm still looking for the perfect Buffyverse vid to this song, but at least I've got a pretty decent Supernatural vid. It doesn't quite work for me in the beginning, but in all fairness, I had a bit of jumpiness that I think had more to do with my connection than it did with the video quality. The middle and end are pretty close to perfect.
Reverb by leonidaslion -- R, Dean/Castiel, Castiel/Lucifer, and the author also labels as Sam/Dean (overtones)
This is written entirely from Castiel's point of view, and I adore this Castiel. Even before encountering the Winchesters, he's all kinds of broken. He hasn't fallen, but neither does he serve as faithfully as he ought. More than that I love this Lucifer (who we never even really see beyond Castiel's not-quite-memories. I think the R rating is a little high. I'd probably call it PG-13, but it's at most a very soft R. With the possible exception of one moment near the end, I wouldn't have even thought to slap the Sam/Dean label on it. I wouldn't say that Dean's love for Sam is unimportant to the story, but the exact nature of that love may be. We get a very nicely created mythology for Angels both just before and in the aftermath of the fall. Certain bits of the Castiel/Lucifer story reminded me forcefully of Cassiel, Elua's perfect companion from the Kushiel series.
Rumspringa and Meidung by july_july_july -- R, Gen, pre-series, Dean, John
These are two stories about the same set of events. The first, Rumpsringa, is told from Dean's point of view. He's sixteen and he's determined that his life, or maybe more his role in life, is going to change. I read it just before our fire in January, and could have sworn that I already recced it. Doesn't look like it though. Meidung is a companion story from John's POV. Now that I've read it, I think I like it even better. I've never bought into the Bad!Daddy John Winchester, and this didn't just feed into that. It shows us a John who is trying to do the right things, but who really doesn't know what those things are. Both John and Dean are hurting in these stories, and I don't think either of them knows how to fix it. I think the best part of both stories though, is the appearances by Pastor Jim Murphy, Caleb, and Bobby Singer.
Silence Cast To Night Skies by tahirire -- Unrated, PG-13ish, Gen, pre-series John, Dean
This is pre-series, while Sam's at College fic. It's dealing with the aftermath of Sam leaving, but in a kind of round-about way. It's from John's POV and it's kind of heartbreaking, as they learn to live without Sam, but they're stronger at the end than they are in the beginning, and it feels kind of hopeful. I liked this a lot, for both of their reactions.
Teach Your Children Vid by lapillus -- Unrated, PGish, Gen, Winchester family
I love Crosby Stills & Nash, and I love vids set to older songs. This one was perfect. It's a great song for them and the clip choice is excellent.
Walking on Sunshine Vid by ash48 -- Unrated, PGish, Gen
This is just a fun little vid to the 80's song by Katrina and the Waves. It makes wonderful use of the Supernatural gag reel footage. The boys are deliciously goofy.
We're Just Ash In a Jar Vid by secretlytodream -- Unrated, PGish, Gen, Sam, Dean
One of the most gorgeous vids I've ever come across. The song, Turn and Turn Again by All Thieves, is soft and slow. It's lovely, and could have spawned a soft, slow, dreamy vid. That might have been nice. Instead, we get some very fast cuts in video. The pace of much of the video actually feels slower than it is because there are these super fast bits that are interspersed. Color and contrast are used in interesting ways, and complement the basic contrast of harsh, violent, fast video to gentle music. I love this.
Torchwood
Holding on, Letting Go by ozmissage -- Unrated, PGish, Jack/Ianto
This is a lovely, sad, little fic written for crickets' Impromptathon. It's a nicely written exploration of what millennia do to Jack's memory.
The West Wing
American Tune Vid by greensilver -- Unrated, PG-ish, gen, ensemble cast
Seven years of The West Wing condensed into one vid, just over four minutes long. This tends to focus a bit more on the sad times than the good times, but they get their moments too. It's really beautiful. The song is the Live in Central Park version of Paul Simon's American Tune (The concert is Simon & Garfunkel). It was a perfect song choice. There's a feeling of immediacy in this live version that is absent from the studio versions of this song.
Crossovers
Buffyverse/Supernatural (2 Fics)
Like the White-Winged Dove by nwhepcat -- R, Gen, Faith, Castiel, and Dean & Sam
I've read quite a few Buffyverse/SPN crossovers. I, for the most part, have been entirely unimpressed. I find that quite weird. They kind of seem like a natural fit to me, but somehow the characters never seem to mesh quite right. The people from one universe get bent just a little too far from their normal to better fit the other universe. This one isn't like that. Faith is perfect, Sam & Dean have small bit parts but they're very much themselves, and Castiel is what I've come to expect from him (though I'm not nearly through all of his episodes).
Waiting for the End of the World by nwhepcat -- Rated Mature, Genish, Faith, Castiel
This story is a sequel to Like the White-Winged Dove. The characterization is excellent. Faith's history with religion is clearly complicated, and not only meeting, but owing her life to a real angel is clearly not helping her out with her usual ignore things that confuse me response. Castiel is interesting, both a bit more human-like than we generally get to see him on Supernatural, but still completely alien in ways that are difficult to define. This is short and sweet. There is one more, quite lengthy, fic set in this universe. I haven't read it yet, but I intend to. If you're interested, it can be found here.
Eureka/Quantum Leap (1 Fic)
Second Unwinding by omorka -- PG, Genish, S.A.R.A.H., some implied unrequited Fargo/Nathan
This is basically a fix-it sort of fic for I Do Over. Fargo can't let go of the possibility of bringing Nathan back. There was no body, after all. That must mean that he's not irretrievable. Right? He sets S.A.R.A.H. to the task of learning everything she can about other people's experiments with time. Eventually she unearths some obscure and partially destroyed notes on a defunct program. Really great concept. I'd like to see what happens next.
Firefly/Supernatural (1 Fic)
They're Advertising in the Skies for People Like Us by musesfool -- PG, Gen, River, Sam
This is really more of a fusion fic than I true crossover. It takes Supernatural and kind of dumps the whole concept into the world of Firefly. The story is then told from River's point of view and mostly of her time at the super-special school. It's nothing I would have ever thought of, but it's wonderful.
House/Stargate: Atlantis (1 Fic)
New Jersey Voodoo by anthropomorfic -- Unrated, but I'd call it PG, Gen, John Sheppard
I'm not a big fan of the script-like format, but their voices are just perfect. The premise is simple. For reasons that remain unexplained, John is in New Jersey when he develops an itchy rash on his upper back. Turns out it's a blue itchy rash. House and company attempt to diagnose. Hilarious, and the end is my favorite part.
The Sandman/Star Trek XI (1 Fic)
Seven Moments by barrowjane -- Author Rated G, but I might bump it up to PG, Gennish with some implied Spock/Uhura and future Kirk/Spock
This is perfect. It probably makes little or no sense if you're not familiar with both sets of source material, but I don't think you have to be fanatic with either of them. It's pretty much just what it says, seven short moments during which some character or set of characters from Star Trek XI meets one of the Endless. My personal favorites are the first (Kirk and Desire) and the last (Bones and Death). Done incredibly well.
Stargate: SG-1/Torchwood (1 Fic)
The Asgard Don't Wear Pants by sentientcitizen -- PG-13, General Jack O'Neill, Captain Jack Harkness
This is a very short fic. Captain Jack is a pivotal figure, but he never actually appears in this fic. A young airman, rather disturbed by Captain Jack's flamboyant behavior brings those concerns to his superior officer. Jack (O'Neill) in his own inimitable way shares his opinions, or lack thereof, on the other Jack's possible "inappropriate" activities.
Multi-Fandom (2 Vids)
Modern Love Vid by ferdalump -- Unrated, PG-13ish or very soft R, Lots of people in lots of combinations from lots of fandoms.
Okay, so this had to be included for the fact that it successfully combines material from 154 sources. I hesitate to say fandoms, because as much as I love Hungry like the Wolf, I don't really think the song or video for the song should qualify as their own fandom. And there are other similar examples, but still 154 different sources went into this roughly 5 1/2 minute vid. Anyway, love the song, and this is cute and entertaining.
Stupid Girls Vid by LLenkaLL -- Unrated, PGish, lots of girls from lots of fandoms.
The vid uses source material from: One tree hill, Smallville, Supernatural, Veronica Mars, Buffy the vampire slayer, Heroes, Terminator: The Sarah Connor cronicles. The song is by Pink. This vid is pretty much a good illustration of all the reasons I don't like most girls on television, particularly television with a teen target audience.
I'm getting close to finished with Season 3 of Supernatural, and I'd guess that I've seen about 1/2 of Season 4 (though not necessarily in order) already, so there will probably be more recs in that fandom next time.
The Dresden Files -- Bookverse
A Family in Five Acts by gehayi -- PG, Gen, The Archive aka Ivy
This is a wonderful story about how a little girl born with the knowledge of every written word throughout history gains a friend, a name, and finally a family. I love both the idea of the Archive and the reality of Ivy, and this story does a fair job of showing why.
Johnny's Little Secret by shiplizard -- PG-13, gennish with some implied slash, pre-canon John Marcone
Gentleman John Marcone is one of my very favorite things about this series. He intrigues me, and I've always kind of hoped for more backstory for him. This is a very nice piece. It is clearly meant to set things up for the author to write Dresden/Marcone slash later, but I don't feel like it has to be about that. It's about how someone other than Dresden can see the really scary parts of Marcone, and yet still be fiercely loyal to him. As she puts it, it's more about a friend's reaction to a boy doing things with boys than it is about boys doing things with boys. It's really nicely done.
Mary's Song by crevanfox -- PG-13, Gen, The Archive aka Ivy
This is a very short exploration of Ivy. I fell in love with her when she was very first introduced. The concept of The Archive is almost endlessly fascinating, but it is the part of Ivy that is still just a little girl who loves little girl things that makes her special. This explores that dichotomy really well.
Secrets by persephoneflame -- Unrated, I'd say PGish, gen with some implied pre-canon Marcone/Male slash, John Marcone
This story has a similar sort of theme to Johnny's Little Secret, but on a much grander scale. Marcone's life is all about secrets, but they get bigger and more important as his life goes on. I love this.
Fastlane
Desperate Guys Vid by bionic -- Unrated, PG-13ish, Van/Deaq
Is it a little pathetic that I'm still upset that this show only lasted for one season. It never had a huge fandom, and it certainly hasn't grown since it's early end, but I loved it. I'd probably rec any newish work I saw for Fastlane for that reason alone. I'm happy to say that this is not only a nice bit of nostalgia for me, but really very nicely put together. It maintains the flavor of the show in a way that a lot of vids don't. I don't know the song or the artist (The Faint), but they fit really well. Watch for the pretty if nothing else.
Numb3rs
Just an Exercise by calamitycrow -- PG-13, Gen, Ian Edgerton
This was written for zombie_fest. Mostly it's a silly little bit of a character exercise for one of my favorite minor recurring characters with a bonus of Cal Sci professors arguing about zombies and the ethics of killing them. Really cute, short, and definitely worth a look.
Real Ghostbusters
Circles and Stone by omorka -- PG, Peter/Egon with unrequited Janine/Egon (The author claims this barely even qualifies as slash, and I would tend to agree. Two brief scenes of male/male kissing is all that's explicitly slashy)
I honestly can't even tell you how I came across omorka's Ghostbusters fanfiction. It seems to have been sitting around on my to be read list for more than a little while now. I was kind of intrigued by the idea of Ghostbusters fanfic, and first read a light and fluffy Ray/Egon fic based in the movieverse. It was cute and sweet, so I read the rest of her movieverse fic. I enjoyed it all, though not really enough to make me rec it. I was a little more reluctant to read the cartoon!verse stuff. There were a couple of reasons. First, it's been so long since I've been a consumer of that fandom that it felt almost foreign to me, and as much as I love the films, the RGB characters are a little off from the movie!verse and there's a lot of fairly technical canon involved. Beyond that, most of her stuff is slash, and while I'm a merry little slasher at heart happily reading slash into pretty much everything I watch as an adult. I've made a reasonable effort to keep my slash-goggles off when thinking about childhood favorites. Still, I watched a few episodes on Youtube. It's amazing how easy it is to get hooked back into things from childhood. The writing is not as good as I remember. Slimer is by far more annoying. Overall, though, I feel like the show holds up remarkably well. It also fairly drips with subtext. I can pretty much ship Peter, Ray, and Egon in any combination, and I also still ship Janine/Egon and possibly Janine/Egon/Ray (though I don't think it works as well for me with Peter as their third). I do not ship Winston with anyone, though I do adore him. Now, on to why this particular story made the recs list. It hits a lot of my buttons. First the romantic subplot is definitely sub. In fact, if you ignore a handful of scenes where someone (usually Peter) says or thinks explicitly romantic things, the love the team all shares seems pretty equal. It's about the bust, first and foremost and I love that. Second, despite the fact that it is at least ostsensibly a story about how Peter and Egon finally after twenty years or so, act on their mutual love, it doesn't shortchange a single character. Janine is kick-ass and just marvelously competent. Ray is everything I love about cartoon!Ray. He's the mage of the group. His magic is a part of who he is, and it's a part that the rest of them don't really understand. He's also the most incredibly innocent for all of the bad things that have happened to them. He lives life more fully engaged than pretty much anyone else, ever. Winston is steady and calm, and more perceptive than the others often give him credit for. He's not quite a part of the inner circle, but he doesn't seem to mind. In fact he's more effective for it, even if he does love them like brothers. Third, it's definitely in the genre of the whole team-member in peril kind of thing. Beyond all of that, it's beautifully written.
Star Trek XI
Bet On It Vid by culf -- Not Rated, PG-13ish, Genish, Kirk
This is really nicely put together. The song is apparently from High School Musical, which kind of amuses me, but the lyrics are really quite perfect. The concept seems to be that with the destruction of the Kelvin, Kirk's rightful future was snatched away, but he gets it back. Some TOS clips are used to great effect. I just really enjoyed this, and I had kind of thought that I was done reccing at least Kirk-centric vids because we've seen all the material so many times.
Common Knowledge by miss_porcupine -- Not Rated, I'd say PG, Gen, Pike
I love this little look at Chris Pike's career with Starfleet. It's an interesting format, and a really great, if exceedingly short backstory. This is the first of 3 miss_porcupine fics on this list. All three of them can clearly exist in the same created universe, but it's not necessary to read them all.
Determining the Equant by miss_porcupine -- Not Rated, I'd say G, Gen, Pike
Christopher Pike from his arrival at Starfleet Academy with Jim Kirk in tow to leaving with a largely inexperienced crew for Vulcan. This is great stuff. I really enjoy movie Pike (as compared to TOS Pike which I have very little opinion on at all), and it's good to see him in ways that don't always directly revolve around his involvement with the Kirk family. This is the second of 3 miss_porcupine fics on this list. This one has some thematic connections to the first, and some more direct connections with the third, but all can be read as stand-alone.
Of the Bluest Skies by irnan -- PG-13, Kirk, Carol Marcus, David
Carol and David appear in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. If you're unfamiliar with it, this might not be quite as much fun. Carol is an old girlfriend of Kirk's and David is their son. In the original timeline, Carol more or less told Kirk to leave, and he never really sees David. The premise here is that this new Kirk who grew up without a father would never ever allow anything like that to happen. There's no current pairing here, but they are all perfect.
Shooting the Moon by miss_porcupine -- Not Rated, I'd call it PG, Gen, Kirk
This is a perfectly wonderful look at Kirk's time at the Academy, complete with classes that kick his ass, a great roommate, and the first couple of attempts at the Kobayashi Maru. It also has one of the more interesting interpretations of what's up with Winona Kirk while all this goes on, that I've seen. This is the third of 3 miss_porcupine fics on this list. All three seem to exist in the same created universe (lots of backstory between them), and there are some direct ties between this one and the second. All can be read as stand-alone stories.
This is Growing Up by Dira -- PG, Gen, McCoy, Chekov
I don't really love the new Chekov. I don't hate him or anything, but, probably for no reason other than a simple lack of time, he just doesn't have a lot of depth. There's nothing there for me to grab onto and say that he interests me. I do however find the accent even more annoying than I ever found it from Walter Koenig. That said, I adore this fic and this Chekov. It's the aftermath of the film, and McCoy is making sure that nobody has any injuries (physical or otherwise) that need attending to. That leads to a little heart-to-heart with Chekov about losing people. Lovely work.
You're Gonna Make It After All by igrockspock -- R, Genish with some Kirk/Gaila and some Spock/Uhura UST, Gaila
I've never really thought much about Gaila. Frankly it never even occurred to me to even write her into fic about the other characters, much less write a story about her. This one came highly recommended, and it's Academy fic. I love stories about everyone's time at the Academy. So I read it anyway. I'm so very glad I did. This takes a character that we barely saw and was essentially nothing more than a sexy charicature and a nod to all the old-school fans who remember what Orions are like, and turns her into a real person with a not always pleasant history. I can also completely see her getting into trouble with human sexual morality issues. Hell half the common cultural rules surrounding sex don't make sense to me, and I've grown up with them. How would someone from a much more sexually permissive culture ever hope to understand, particularly when you consider that actually talking about sex is often seen as taboo. The story made me laugh, and I think it is primarily intended to be humor, but there's so much more to it.
Stargate: Atlantis
2 Atoms in a Molecule (or Why John Sheppard is an Emotional Simpleton) Vid by zoetrope -- Unrated, John/Rodney
I love the style of this vid, which incorporates drawings in a really fun way. This is short. I kind of love the song. Streaming and Download links in the post, and the streaming version is of a very nice quality.
It's Growing Day by Day by Telesilla -- Not Rated, I'd call it PG-13, Fairly gennish team-centric but includes John/Rodney
This is a perfectly lovely little piece about the team being stranded off-world with no hope of rescue. They survive, barely at first, and then things get better. They all grow. They tell stories (Rodney apparently knows the entire Oz book series which I find quite entertaining), they learn new skills or hone old ones, and they learn each other and themselves. In the end, they're still pretty much all varying shades of bad at talking about their feelings, but they do seem to be better at doing something about them.
Supernatural
The Baffled King Composing Hallelujah by kadiel_krieger -- Rated Teen, Genish, Sam
I can't believe I'm reccing a story that is primarily about Sam, but this I love. The story is about Sam's complicated relationship with faith, belief, prayer, God, demons, and angels. It starts when he's just a child and ends with the season 4 finale, so if you haven't seen and don't want to know then don't read this right now, but do read it.
Code of the Boys by dodger_winslow -- R, Gen, pre-series, John
This is relatively short. It's a quiet little fic, more about John's thoughts and feelings about his boys than anything else. What really strikes me with this story is just how well he knows them, and how easy it is to reconcile, in this John Winchester, both the guy that made Sam furious and the guy we meet in the series who so clearly adores his children.
Cross-Country by zillah_fic -- R, Gen, pre-series, Dean, John
The author pulls a line from Devil's Trap to act as a kind of tag to this fic: "For you or Dad, the things I'm willing to do or kill.... It scares me sometimes." This story takes you back to one of the times Dean killed for his father. It's a fairly horrifying story. Dean's still mostly a child in a world that is far too scary for anyone his age to ever have to see. He's clearly been hunting with his Dad for awhile, but nothing like this has ever happened. And yeah, Dean would absolutely do what he does here for John or Sam either one. He'd do it in an instant, and never even really regret it. It's probably right that scares him.
I'll Never Forget the Way You Look Tonight by cjmarlowe -- PG-13, Gen, Sam, Dean, Bobby
It's the end of the world, or at least it is to hear Sam talk. Dean quite rightly points out that the world did not end as they are still there. The nature of the apocalypse is almost entirely unexpected in the Supernatural Universe. The characterization in this delightfully cracked short fic is pitch perfect.
It's the End of the World as We Know It Vid by deirdre_c -- Unrated, PG-13ish, Gen
I love this song. It might actually be my favorite REM song, and it is pretty perfect for Supernatural. I'm still looking for the perfect Buffyverse vid to this song, but at least I've got a pretty decent Supernatural vid. It doesn't quite work for me in the beginning, but in all fairness, I had a bit of jumpiness that I think had more to do with my connection than it did with the video quality. The middle and end are pretty close to perfect.
Reverb by leonidaslion -- R, Dean/Castiel, Castiel/Lucifer, and the author also labels as Sam/Dean (overtones)
This is written entirely from Castiel's point of view, and I adore this Castiel. Even before encountering the Winchesters, he's all kinds of broken. He hasn't fallen, but neither does he serve as faithfully as he ought. More than that I love this Lucifer (who we never even really see beyond Castiel's not-quite-memories. I think the R rating is a little high. I'd probably call it PG-13, but it's at most a very soft R. With the possible exception of one moment near the end, I wouldn't have even thought to slap the Sam/Dean label on it. I wouldn't say that Dean's love for Sam is unimportant to the story, but the exact nature of that love may be. We get a very nicely created mythology for Angels both just before and in the aftermath of the fall. Certain bits of the Castiel/Lucifer story reminded me forcefully of Cassiel, Elua's perfect companion from the Kushiel series.
Rumspringa and Meidung by july_july_july -- R, Gen, pre-series, Dean, John
These are two stories about the same set of events. The first, Rumpsringa, is told from Dean's point of view. He's sixteen and he's determined that his life, or maybe more his role in life, is going to change. I read it just before our fire in January, and could have sworn that I already recced it. Doesn't look like it though. Meidung is a companion story from John's POV. Now that I've read it, I think I like it even better. I've never bought into the Bad!Daddy John Winchester, and this didn't just feed into that. It shows us a John who is trying to do the right things, but who really doesn't know what those things are. Both John and Dean are hurting in these stories, and I don't think either of them knows how to fix it. I think the best part of both stories though, is the appearances by Pastor Jim Murphy, Caleb, and Bobby Singer.
Silence Cast To Night Skies by tahirire -- Unrated, PG-13ish, Gen, pre-series John, Dean
This is pre-series, while Sam's at College fic. It's dealing with the aftermath of Sam leaving, but in a kind of round-about way. It's from John's POV and it's kind of heartbreaking, as they learn to live without Sam, but they're stronger at the end than they are in the beginning, and it feels kind of hopeful. I liked this a lot, for both of their reactions.
Teach Your Children Vid by lapillus -- Unrated, PGish, Gen, Winchester family
I love Crosby Stills & Nash, and I love vids set to older songs. This one was perfect. It's a great song for them and the clip choice is excellent.
Walking on Sunshine Vid by ash48 -- Unrated, PGish, Gen
This is just a fun little vid to the 80's song by Katrina and the Waves. It makes wonderful use of the Supernatural gag reel footage. The boys are deliciously goofy.
We're Just Ash In a Jar Vid by secretlytodream -- Unrated, PGish, Gen, Sam, Dean
One of the most gorgeous vids I've ever come across. The song, Turn and Turn Again by All Thieves, is soft and slow. It's lovely, and could have spawned a soft, slow, dreamy vid. That might have been nice. Instead, we get some very fast cuts in video. The pace of much of the video actually feels slower than it is because there are these super fast bits that are interspersed. Color and contrast are used in interesting ways, and complement the basic contrast of harsh, violent, fast video to gentle music. I love this.
Torchwood
Holding on, Letting Go by ozmissage -- Unrated, PGish, Jack/Ianto
This is a lovely, sad, little fic written for crickets' Impromptathon. It's a nicely written exploration of what millennia do to Jack's memory.
The West Wing
American Tune Vid by greensilver -- Unrated, PG-ish, gen, ensemble cast
Seven years of The West Wing condensed into one vid, just over four minutes long. This tends to focus a bit more on the sad times than the good times, but they get their moments too. It's really beautiful. The song is the Live in Central Park version of Paul Simon's American Tune (The concert is Simon & Garfunkel). It was a perfect song choice. There's a feeling of immediacy in this live version that is absent from the studio versions of this song.
Crossovers
Buffyverse/Supernatural (2 Fics)
Like the White-Winged Dove by nwhepcat -- R, Gen, Faith, Castiel, and Dean & Sam
I've read quite a few Buffyverse/SPN crossovers. I, for the most part, have been entirely unimpressed. I find that quite weird. They kind of seem like a natural fit to me, but somehow the characters never seem to mesh quite right. The people from one universe get bent just a little too far from their normal to better fit the other universe. This one isn't like that. Faith is perfect, Sam & Dean have small bit parts but they're very much themselves, and Castiel is what I've come to expect from him (though I'm not nearly through all of his episodes).
Waiting for the End of the World by nwhepcat -- Rated Mature, Genish, Faith, Castiel
This story is a sequel to Like the White-Winged Dove. The characterization is excellent. Faith's history with religion is clearly complicated, and not only meeting, but owing her life to a real angel is clearly not helping her out with her usual ignore things that confuse me response. Castiel is interesting, both a bit more human-like than we generally get to see him on Supernatural, but still completely alien in ways that are difficult to define. This is short and sweet. There is one more, quite lengthy, fic set in this universe. I haven't read it yet, but I intend to. If you're interested, it can be found here.
Eureka/Quantum Leap (1 Fic)
Second Unwinding by omorka -- PG, Genish, S.A.R.A.H., some implied unrequited Fargo/Nathan
This is basically a fix-it sort of fic for I Do Over. Fargo can't let go of the possibility of bringing Nathan back. There was no body, after all. That must mean that he's not irretrievable. Right? He sets S.A.R.A.H. to the task of learning everything she can about other people's experiments with time. Eventually she unearths some obscure and partially destroyed notes on a defunct program. Really great concept. I'd like to see what happens next.
Firefly/Supernatural (1 Fic)
They're Advertising in the Skies for People Like Us by musesfool -- PG, Gen, River, Sam
This is really more of a fusion fic than I true crossover. It takes Supernatural and kind of dumps the whole concept into the world of Firefly. The story is then told from River's point of view and mostly of her time at the super-special school. It's nothing I would have ever thought of, but it's wonderful.
House/Stargate: Atlantis (1 Fic)
New Jersey Voodoo by anthropomorfic -- Unrated, but I'd call it PG, Gen, John Sheppard
I'm not a big fan of the script-like format, but their voices are just perfect. The premise is simple. For reasons that remain unexplained, John is in New Jersey when he develops an itchy rash on his upper back. Turns out it's a blue itchy rash. House and company attempt to diagnose. Hilarious, and the end is my favorite part.
The Sandman/Star Trek XI (1 Fic)
Seven Moments by barrowjane -- Author Rated G, but I might bump it up to PG, Gennish with some implied Spock/Uhura and future Kirk/Spock
This is perfect. It probably makes little or no sense if you're not familiar with both sets of source material, but I don't think you have to be fanatic with either of them. It's pretty much just what it says, seven short moments during which some character or set of characters from Star Trek XI meets one of the Endless. My personal favorites are the first (Kirk and Desire) and the last (Bones and Death). Done incredibly well.
Stargate: SG-1/Torchwood (1 Fic)
The Asgard Don't Wear Pants by sentientcitizen -- PG-13, General Jack O'Neill, Captain Jack Harkness
This is a very short fic. Captain Jack is a pivotal figure, but he never actually appears in this fic. A young airman, rather disturbed by Captain Jack's flamboyant behavior brings those concerns to his superior officer. Jack (O'Neill) in his own inimitable way shares his opinions, or lack thereof, on the other Jack's possible "inappropriate" activities.
Multi-Fandom (2 Vids)
Modern Love Vid by ferdalump -- Unrated, PG-13ish or very soft R, Lots of people in lots of combinations from lots of fandoms.
Okay, so this had to be included for the fact that it successfully combines material from 154 sources. I hesitate to say fandoms, because as much as I love Hungry like the Wolf, I don't really think the song or video for the song should qualify as their own fandom. And there are other similar examples, but still 154 different sources went into this roughly 5 1/2 minute vid. Anyway, love the song, and this is cute and entertaining.
Stupid Girls Vid by LLenkaLL -- Unrated, PGish, lots of girls from lots of fandoms.
The vid uses source material from: One tree hill, Smallville, Supernatural, Veronica Mars, Buffy the vampire slayer, Heroes, Terminator: The Sarah Connor cronicles. The song is by Pink. This vid is pretty much a good illustration of all the reasons I don't like most girls on television, particularly television with a teen target audience.