Rectober
Rectober #1 (which presumes I'll cough up at least a #2) - Rectober aims to celebrate reccing, reading, enjoying, commenting, sharing and discussion about fic, art and other fanworks during the month of October.
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Ragnarr and the Trow Wife, by Avierra (23,000 words)
What should come here are its fandom and pairing, but I'm going to step out of the mold and not make a point of them. What this story does is take its two characters so far out of their setting and into AU that you don't need to know anything at all about the fandom or the characters. In fact, even if you know the fandom well, you might never realize this story belongs there. In short, everyone can read and enjoy it fully. It really is brilliant. I will mention that it's m/m and rated mature.
The story unfolds as a well-crafted fairy tale set in an undisclosed Nordic village. Ragnarr sets off to track down a Trow Wife and compel her to lift her curse on his brother's land, and a clever battle of wills follows. The writing is rich, vivid, and well-researched, and the characters are multi-dimensional and engaging. I've reread it 6 or 7 times already, and I just found it a couple of months ago. It just hits every one of my buttons, that's all I can say. I hope I can get you to read it, too.
[Okay, the fandom is Saiyuki; the pairing Gojyo/Hakkai; trust me, you won't even know.]
It was dusk when [Ragnarr] finally stepped into a vast meadow in the heart of the forest, and came across the Trow Wife, sitting on the stump of a log outside a small wood house, spinning a pile of what appeared to be wool. She sat in the middle of a garden of flowers: roses and daisies, lavender and lilies, and their warm fragrance reached him from across the meadow. The thatch on the house sprouted a lush explosion of grass and pink clover, and a white goat stood on it, peacefully munching.
The Trow Wife looked up at him and smiled-and oh, that smile-a bit wicked, a bit saucy, a bit sweet, and all he could do was gasp.
Now, Ragnarr was obviously no stranger to beautiful women, but he had never seen a woman like the Trow Wife. He had expected, well, a Trow. But no. She was beyond lovely… she was beautiful, and perfect, and everything he never knew he desired-eyes as green and dark as the heart of the forest itself, with hair as black as a moonless night; and a tasty, luscious mouth of the softest rose. She was dressed all in green from her white throat to the pink toes peeping out from beneath her kirtle, and her hair fell loose and wild around her waist when she rose to greet him. She was almost as tall as he; Ragnarr was no small man, but that just added to her charm.
banner by capitu
Ragnarr and the Trow Wife, by Avierra (23,000 words)
What should come here are its fandom and pairing, but I'm going to step out of the mold and not make a point of them. What this story does is take its two characters so far out of their setting and into AU that you don't need to know anything at all about the fandom or the characters. In fact, even if you know the fandom well, you might never realize this story belongs there. In short, everyone can read and enjoy it fully. It really is brilliant. I will mention that it's m/m and rated mature.
The story unfolds as a well-crafted fairy tale set in an undisclosed Nordic village. Ragnarr sets off to track down a Trow Wife and compel her to lift her curse on his brother's land, and a clever battle of wills follows. The writing is rich, vivid, and well-researched, and the characters are multi-dimensional and engaging. I've reread it 6 or 7 times already, and I just found it a couple of months ago. It just hits every one of my buttons, that's all I can say. I hope I can get you to read it, too.
[Okay, the fandom is Saiyuki; the pairing Gojyo/Hakkai; trust me, you won't even know.]
It was dusk when [Ragnarr] finally stepped into a vast meadow in the heart of the forest, and came across the Trow Wife, sitting on the stump of a log outside a small wood house, spinning a pile of what appeared to be wool. She sat in the middle of a garden of flowers: roses and daisies, lavender and lilies, and their warm fragrance reached him from across the meadow. The thatch on the house sprouted a lush explosion of grass and pink clover, and a white goat stood on it, peacefully munching.
The Trow Wife looked up at him and smiled-and oh, that smile-a bit wicked, a bit saucy, a bit sweet, and all he could do was gasp.
Now, Ragnarr was obviously no stranger to beautiful women, but he had never seen a woman like the Trow Wife. He had expected, well, a Trow. But no. She was beyond lovely… she was beautiful, and perfect, and everything he never knew he desired-eyes as green and dark as the heart of the forest itself, with hair as black as a moonless night; and a tasty, luscious mouth of the softest rose. She was dressed all in green from her white throat to the pink toes peeping out from beneath her kirtle, and her hair fell loose and wild around her waist when she rose to greet him. She was almost as tall as he; Ragnarr was no small man, but that just added to her charm.