Fic recs
Here are half a dozen recs, all for brief pieces about women, from six fandoms: Firefly, Spooks, Stargate Atlantis, The Blue Sword (Robin McKinley), The Female Man (Joanna Russ), and The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
Jabberwocky, miss_porcupine's short-but-perfect crossover. It's Ros Myers to the life, and I am not going to tell you where she's headed because if I did, you'd be giggling too hard to click the link, and that would be sad. [Spooks x ?]
"Ros? A moment?" Adam calls to her from Harry's open doorway.
In the warm glow of hindsight, she will remember his mild expression and casual posture, summoning her like she's simply forgotten to sign one of her case files. His eyes twinkle in amusement as she passes him and she will remember that and think that he really had no fucking clue what was so funny about it at all.
charmed life, by northlight. Inara Serra as she might have been, might still be: a brief but beautifully constructed work in which the interlocking character and meta commentaries combine to a perfect whole. This story was written in 2002; it's still true. [Firefly]
the sheets are silk his nails are short and clean she can smell apple blossoms through the open window
her mouth is wet wax strawberries his skin tastes like milk
inara has a story.
No Drop of Water, by little_giddy & hariboo_smirks. Elizabeth Weir makes a hell of a contingency plan. I love this brief story for its lyricism and the way it's paced; the end is perfect. [SGA]
Going through the Gate - the door, it swings both ways - she remembers everything and nothing.
Jack Knifed Juggernaut (I am born again), by arenotvalid, aka smercy. Cameron Phillips wasn't built to process a lot of the things she finds herself dealing with, much less express them; hence this iterative rehearsal of innocence and experience, scary-robot style. Also: intermittently hilarious. Comes with bonus cylons (as fictional; not a crossover). [The Sarah Connor Chronicles]
Cameron does not sleep. She has learned all languages that protocol has dictated may be useful to protect John Connor. Her secondary monitoring system is set to scan the area for threats. Her tertiary monitoring system is set to watch John Connor sleep.
John has suggested that she rewatch Battlestar Galactica. He said, "You can't immediately learn to act like a human. Try acting like a cylon first."
Baga, by becky2112, from Yuletide 2009. It turns out that subverting all of Damar takes less than 2,000 words. A colorful story that becomes absolutely astonishing once you begin to process the meta sting in the tail. [Robin McKinley's The Blue Sword]
The woman's arm flashed out, her sword catching her opponent's near the guard. She twisted her wrist and heaved, disarming the man. Quick as a snake, her blade bit his wrist then twisted to cut his sash. The kysin's whistle blew, and the woman settled back on her horse, face impassive.
"No," Aerin said thoughtfully, "I think she's doing it deliberately. She never cuts very deep, you notice."
See the Moon, by cher, also from YT09. The author's summary asks, How do you frame an Ever After?; the story that follows is ruthless enough to make the answer bearable. Even if you've never read the book, you might want to give this a try. [Joanna Russ's The Female Man]
Then again, if Janet is right and Jael is wrong, if it was a plague of natural causes (Jael would say she is a natural cause; the most natural there could be) - would I, Joanna - would I bring them back if I could? After a generation or two? Would I?
It's been wonderful reading the comm these past two weeks. Thanks to the mods and everyone who's posted.
Jabberwocky, miss_porcupine's short-but-perfect crossover. It's Ros Myers to the life, and I am not going to tell you where she's headed because if I did, you'd be giggling too hard to click the link, and that would be sad. [Spooks x ?]
"Ros? A moment?" Adam calls to her from Harry's open doorway.
In the warm glow of hindsight, she will remember his mild expression and casual posture, summoning her like she's simply forgotten to sign one of her case files. His eyes twinkle in amusement as she passes him and she will remember that and think that he really had no fucking clue what was so funny about it at all.
charmed life, by northlight. Inara Serra as she might have been, might still be: a brief but beautifully constructed work in which the interlocking character and meta commentaries combine to a perfect whole. This story was written in 2002; it's still true. [Firefly]
the sheets are silk his nails are short and clean she can smell apple blossoms through the open window
her mouth is wet wax strawberries his skin tastes like milk
inara has a story.
No Drop of Water, by little_giddy & hariboo_smirks. Elizabeth Weir makes a hell of a contingency plan. I love this brief story for its lyricism and the way it's paced; the end is perfect. [SGA]
Going through the Gate - the door, it swings both ways - she remembers everything and nothing.
Jack Knifed Juggernaut (I am born again), by arenotvalid, aka smercy. Cameron Phillips wasn't built to process a lot of the things she finds herself dealing with, much less express them; hence this iterative rehearsal of innocence and experience, scary-robot style. Also: intermittently hilarious. Comes with bonus cylons (as fictional; not a crossover). [The Sarah Connor Chronicles]
Cameron does not sleep. She has learned all languages that protocol has dictated may be useful to protect John Connor. Her secondary monitoring system is set to scan the area for threats. Her tertiary monitoring system is set to watch John Connor sleep.
John has suggested that she rewatch Battlestar Galactica. He said, "You can't immediately learn to act like a human. Try acting like a cylon first."
Baga, by becky2112, from Yuletide 2009. It turns out that subverting all of Damar takes less than 2,000 words. A colorful story that becomes absolutely astonishing once you begin to process the meta sting in the tail. [Robin McKinley's The Blue Sword]
The woman's arm flashed out, her sword catching her opponent's near the guard. She twisted her wrist and heaved, disarming the man. Quick as a snake, her blade bit his wrist then twisted to cut his sash. The kysin's whistle blew, and the woman settled back on her horse, face impassive.
"No," Aerin said thoughtfully, "I think she's doing it deliberately. She never cuts very deep, you notice."
See the Moon, by cher, also from YT09. The author's summary asks, How do you frame an Ever After?; the story that follows is ruthless enough to make the answer bearable. Even if you've never read the book, you might want to give this a try. [Joanna Russ's The Female Man]
Then again, if Janet is right and Jael is wrong, if it was a plague of natural causes (Jael would say she is a natural cause; the most natural there could be) - would I, Joanna - would I bring them back if I could? After a generation or two? Would I?
It's been wonderful reading the comm these past two weeks. Thanks to the mods and everyone who's posted.