Snowflake Challenge 2022 - Challenge #10
Challenge #10
In your own space, rec a fanwork (fic, art, vid, playlist, anything!) you did not create.
This is probably my favorite challenge of the whole Snowflake experience. I love helping people find new stories and new fandoms and finding new stories and fandoms to read myself. Lately, I've been on a long-fic kick. By lately I mean the last few years. Since I can read a 10k story in about an hour (or less, if there are no distractions), longer stories that take multiple days to read appeal because I can immerse myself in the story and the universe it's in.
In that vein, I'm going to recommend some series that I have read and enjoyed. Some of them are short and some are long. Some are finished and some are not. But they all take you away to another place and time and really let you get comfortable there. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have.
Gra'tua
This story is from The Mandalorian and was written by Keira Marcos for the Quantum Bang for 2021. It reimagines the series from the end of season one, so basically it pitches season two out the window. There are two stories, and they're both about 100k long (the first is just under and the second is just over). It features a Din Djarin/Cara Dune romance, but Keira's recast Cara Dune with Gabrielle Union, so if you're concerned at all about the controversy surrounding Gina Carano, rest easy. There are cast pictures, and it's not hard at all to see Gabrielle Union in the role.
Pushing Boundaries
I have yet to see any of the new Jurassic Park movies (I know, I know), but since I'll read pretty much anything that Macx writes, I read the first story in this series without a second thought. It starts out as a gen story, about what would happen if Owen Grady had a supernatural connection to the raptors (if you know Macx at all, you know this is their go-to scenario). There are currently four stories in the series, but only the last one has any romance at all, and it's an M/M story involving Owen and an OC. I've read the whole series multiple times and seem to enjoy it more every time.
Drift Compatible
I absolutely loved Pacific Rim, but then again, I'm a Godzilla fan from way back, so Kaiju are kinda my jam. This series has been going on since 2014 and was last posted to back in 2019 (the writer was in grad school, so posting dried up, and while it's not complete, it doesn't feel like it's just been left hanging). Written by nanuk_dain, it explores the relationship between Stacker Pentecost and Hercules Hansen, and later between Raleigh Becket and Chuck Hansen. The main idea behind the series is an exploration of something called the Perfect Match, the idea that there are some pairs that are so compatible in the drift that they very nearly become one person. Perfect matches are rare, but it's these perfect matches that defeat the Kaiju. The series follows our favorite characters both before the movie and after and obviously goes AU after the first movie. Also, the writer saves a lot of characters that met their end in the movie, so if you're mourning Stacker or Chuck, they're alive and well here.
A Pond With No Fish
Technically, this story is posted as a single story, but when I first read it, it was posted as three separate stories that formed a complete series. It's a Stargate: SG-1 story, with a Sam/Jack romance at its core. It goes AU somewhere in Season 8 of the show when there are time travel shenanigans. Changes happen that ripple out and alter future events in ways both small and large. The story is broken into three distinct parts: Chrysalis, Butterfly, and Storms. You'll be able to recognize canon events, but some happen in different ways and some not at all.
Stick Around and Demons
These two stories were written by Jilly James, one for the Little Black Dress challenge on Rough Trade, and the sequel for a Sequels challenge on Rough Trade. I love crossovers and fusions involving Sentinels, and I'm a fan of the Tony DiNozzo character, so these stories were bound to pique my interest. If you don't know what the Sentinel trope is, check out this entry on Fanlore for a full explanation. These particular stories are a fusion of NCIS and the MCU in addition to The Sentinel. Tony DiNozzo is the Sentinel and Tony Stark is the potential Guide, and you can just imagine how that goes. All total, the stories clock in around 100k, most of that word count in the second story.
Not in Kansas Anymore
This series is a fusion between two of my favorite fandoms: NCIS and Stargate. Basically, Gibbs has been host to a Goa'uld for decades, and when Tony finds out, it not only rocks his world, it totally changes it. The action starts out on Earth and then moves to Atlantis in later stories. It's still being updated (there's a story in progress as of this writing), though I haven't had the chance to read more recent chapters.
The Alliance AU Saga
I don't normally recommend stories on Fanfiction.net because I personally hate the archive and the lack of control over basically everything. That being said, I will put up with a lot because this series is just that good. It's a Stargate: Atlantis story and the premise is simple: what if events in Pegasus were dramatically different when the expedition arrives? The battle with the Wraith in the series is desperate and seriously one-sided in favor of the Wraith, but this story explores what that battle would be like if the people of Pegasus formed an alliance and fought back. It's interesting, creative and ambitious; just the kind of story I like. The hateful interface over at ff.net won't allow for stories to be linked together, but thankfully Wedjatqi has listed the stories in this series at the top of their profile, so there's that at least. In order, they are (copied directly from the page): 'Late Night Visitors' (first written stand alone fic that started the whole idea), 'First Contacts', Convergence of Acquaintances', and then 'Dark Shadows Rising'. Which is then followed by 'Interlude', 'In Choice and Freedom', 'Interlude 2 - Three Days in Space Dock', 'Not to Have or To Hold', and 'Interlude 3 - Recovery' (currently being published). There's one more story in progress called 'Interlude - A New View'. If you're brave enough to endure that archive, you won't regret reading the series.