Hurt/Comfort bingo - March recs challenge
15 recs:
insomnia
poisoning
unrequited pining
Fandoms: Blake's 7, Doctor Who, Once Upon A Time, Press Gang, Sapphire & Steel, Spooks | MI-5
Prompts: Insomnia, Poisoning, Unrequited pining.
Insomnia
1. Fic: One Long Night by Amy Wolf (Doctor Who)
(All ages, 1538 words. Second Doctor, Jamie MacCrimmon, Victoria Waterfield. No warnings.) The Doctor attempts to solve a problem of storage space. Complications ensue.
The Doctor doesn't tend to sleep much as a rule, and here he's trying to do something to help Jamie while his companion sleeps. Basically, the Ninth Doctor's explanation of the sonic screwdriver's origin ('What you never were bored and had to put up lots of shelves in one night?') is the starting point for this lovely bit of fun.
2. Fic: End of the World News by unoriginal-elisabeth (Press Gang)
(All ages/PG, 5487 words. Lynda Day, Kenny Phillips & newsroom team. Warnings: implied character death, end of the world.) It's the end of the world, AND it's a Monday - but people still show up for work.
One of the very best and sharpest fanfics I know - a Press Gang apocalyptic AU (set somewhere between S2 & 3). Everyone is note-perfect in their reactions to the situation and what they decide to do. It's funny, heart-breaking and so very right - and all comes to the important conclusion with Kenny and Lynda sitting out what may be the last night of the world together in the newsroom.
3. Fic: Nightwatch by valderys (Blake's 7)
(All ages, 2062 words. Vila Restal, Jenna Stannis, Kerr Avon. Tag for S2 ep. Gambit. No warnings apply.) After breaking the casino at Freedom City, Vila goes to collect his ill-gotten gains, but has a surprise visitor.
Vila's on nightwatch on the Liberator, but far too many other people don't seem to be sleeping tonight. The fic is both a lot of fun, very in-keeping with the show and also touches on the ways in which the Liberator crew do and don't trust each other and look out of each other while claiming not to do so. In short, it's Blake's 7, and it's great.
4. Fic: Caught by
seriesfive (Sapphire & Steel)
(All ages/PG, 900 words. Sapphire/Steel. Telepathy, slight dub con.) When Sapphire sleeps it's the perfect time to slip inside of her unconscious mind.
Steel doesn't/can't sleep while Sapphire does, so he takes the opportunity to explore her mind uninvited. It's a neatly done exploration of the strangeness of Elements, their nature - and the ending is fun and clever, as Sapphire turns the tables on Steel.
5. Fic: Gazing into the Abyss by mithen (Blake's 7)
(PG, 2045 words. Kerr Avon/Roj Blake. Angst, Spying, Nightmares, Loss.) Avon hacked the Liberator's surveillance system his first day aboard.
Clever, dark Blake/Avon fic in which Avon watches Blake unseen via the Liberator's systems and gets more than he bargained for in several ways - including loss of sleep over Blake's nightmares. It's very true to both characters, the nature of the universe they live in and really well done. (It probably also hits the unrequited pining prompt, for bonus value.)
Poisoning
6. Fic: By The Naked Sword by the_seventh_l (Doctor Who)
(Teen, 295 words. Dystopia, mentions of death, execution and torture) Ask not what your Governor can do for you, but whether he's lived long enough to do anything.
It's only 295 words, but it's a brilliantly sharp portrait of a society and character the Sixth Doctor encounters (Varos, and its governor) - a poisoned society, and a governor sitting on a poisoned throne.
7. Vid: Poison by
calapine (Doctor Who)
(All ages/PG. 3.44 mins. No warnings apply. Eleven/River.) The Doctor (Matt Smith) and River Song (Alex Kingston).
It's a very well-made vid to Poison by Alice Cooper, exploring the Doctor and River's relationship in S5-6, including the literal and metaphorical ways in which they are "poison running through my veins" to each other. It's clever, smartly-edited and observed - and also captures the fun and adventure, too.
8. Fic: Made & Unmade by
selenak (Once Upon A Time)
(All ages/PG, 4556 words. Regina & Snow. S1-2 spoilers. Mentions of death, troubled family relationships.) Snow had given her heart to Regina a long time ago. Snow White and Regina, from the beginning to the end and back again.
A wonderful, in-depth, thoughtful exploration of the relationship between these two, which is, after all, threaded through with several instances of literal poison and poisoned relationships.
9. Fic: Moving Forward by
settiai (Doctor Who)
(All ages/PG, 5025 words. Liz Shaw/Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. Violence, broken relationship, implied sex.) Sometimes all a person can do is move forward and hope for the best.
Gorgeously written fic exploring the Brigadier and Liz, and a possible relationship - what brings them together and what breaks them apart and how they're the same thing. And the incident that starts this and illustrates it, is a matter of poisonous substances in the lab...
Unrequited Pining
10. Fic: Knowing Her Place by
primsong (Doctor Who)
(All ages, 1364 words. Pre-series, no warnings. The TARDIS). That old Type 40 never did fit in. Now it would never be of use again, such a shame, such a shame.
The TARDIS, before the Doctor, longing for freedom to explore the vortex, and someone she can explore it with, but none of her pilots have understood. It's an unusual idea, and it's beautifully done here - the TARDIS voice interspersed between the too-mundane conclusions of the Time Lords deciding what her fate must be.
11. Fic: The Glade by wiccagirl24 (Doctor Who/Sapphire & Steel)
(All ages, 5807 words. Seventh Doctor, Ace McShane, Sapphire, Steel. Ghosts, loss, death.) Sapphire and Steel are assigned to investigate a snow covered glade where something has gone wrong with time. The Doctor and Ace are drawn to the same place, but for them it's spring and the flowers are in bloom. An angry man, a sobbing woman, a mystery.
The power of unrequited emotion is bending time and finding an echo in both Ace and Steel. This is a beautiful story, an excellent, natural-feeling crossover (and works whichever show you have knowledge of) and the characters are very well-drawn and used.
12. Vid: The Baffled King Composing by Aerynrox (Spooks | MI-5)
(All ages, 4.43 mins. Harry Pearce/Ruth Evershed. Warning for one instance of violence/blood). "You think I'm a limited man?"
A vid centring on Harry Pearce and his feelings for Ruth Evershed, his inability to express them, and a complicated requited-unrequited relationship. It's an old vid now (2006!) but it still stands as an excellent, thoughtful exploration of this particular fictional relationship. And also, when it comes to visibly-pining-after-Ruth faces, Peter Firth is king.
13. Fic: Notes on an Exile by
delgaserasca (Spooks |MI-5)
(All ages, 2962 words. Colin Wells, Malcolm Wynn-Jones. No warnings apply.) "Before he leaves, Colin debates over whether or not to write a note." For three months in 1998, Colin is sent to work at the Manchester office. Malcolm sends him tea.
It's unusual to find pining-for-friendship fics, but that's what this is: Colin makes an error and is (coincidentally or otherwise) sent to Manchester for three months, and misses Malcolm, worrying about whether or not they're still friends. It's true to the early series of Spooks, it focuses on two interesting and usually under-written supporting characters, and it's funny and sweet.
14. Fic: Girl in Every Port by tree_and_leaf (Doctor Who)
(Teen, 1170 words. Sarah Jane Smith/Harry Sullivan. References to major character death.) She knew this man when she was younger. He wasn't the one the Doctor was thinking of.
Funny, sweet sad fic that subverts the "unrequited pining" trope in relation to the Doctor and his companions: in this Sarah doesn't pine for anyone, not even the Doctor, thank you. Except perhaps she does, just a little. (It's also a slight role reversal of the way the Harry/Sarah relationship is usually written in fics, too.)
15. Fic: Love Me (Love Me Not) by
laughinggas13 (Doctor Who)
(All ages, 962 words. Eighth Doctor, Charley Pollard. Mild angst, No spoilers.)
Ficlet in which the Doctor and Charley discuss love in general, and not in particular, and Charley has her questions answered, though maybe not in the way she hoped. It's very well done and shot through with the pain of unrequited feelings (but also a fair bit of humour and pragmatism as is usual for these two).
Crossposted from Dreamwidth -- Comments there:
insomnia
poisoning
unrequited pining
Fandoms: Blake's 7, Doctor Who, Once Upon A Time, Press Gang, Sapphire & Steel, Spooks | MI-5
Prompts: Insomnia, Poisoning, Unrequited pining.
Insomnia
1. Fic: One Long Night by Amy Wolf (Doctor Who)
(All ages, 1538 words. Second Doctor, Jamie MacCrimmon, Victoria Waterfield. No warnings.) The Doctor attempts to solve a problem of storage space. Complications ensue.
The Doctor doesn't tend to sleep much as a rule, and here he's trying to do something to help Jamie while his companion sleeps. Basically, the Ninth Doctor's explanation of the sonic screwdriver's origin ('What you never were bored and had to put up lots of shelves in one night?') is the starting point for this lovely bit of fun.
2. Fic: End of the World News by unoriginal-elisabeth (Press Gang)
(All ages/PG, 5487 words. Lynda Day, Kenny Phillips & newsroom team. Warnings: implied character death, end of the world.) It's the end of the world, AND it's a Monday - but people still show up for work.
One of the very best and sharpest fanfics I know - a Press Gang apocalyptic AU (set somewhere between S2 & 3). Everyone is note-perfect in their reactions to the situation and what they decide to do. It's funny, heart-breaking and so very right - and all comes to the important conclusion with Kenny and Lynda sitting out what may be the last night of the world together in the newsroom.
3. Fic: Nightwatch by valderys (Blake's 7)
(All ages, 2062 words. Vila Restal, Jenna Stannis, Kerr Avon. Tag for S2 ep. Gambit. No warnings apply.) After breaking the casino at Freedom City, Vila goes to collect his ill-gotten gains, but has a surprise visitor.
Vila's on nightwatch on the Liberator, but far too many other people don't seem to be sleeping tonight. The fic is both a lot of fun, very in-keeping with the show and also touches on the ways in which the Liberator crew do and don't trust each other and look out of each other while claiming not to do so. In short, it's Blake's 7, and it's great.
4. Fic: Caught by
seriesfive (Sapphire & Steel)
(All ages/PG, 900 words. Sapphire/Steel. Telepathy, slight dub con.) When Sapphire sleeps it's the perfect time to slip inside of her unconscious mind.
Steel doesn't/can't sleep while Sapphire does, so he takes the opportunity to explore her mind uninvited. It's a neatly done exploration of the strangeness of Elements, their nature - and the ending is fun and clever, as Sapphire turns the tables on Steel.
5. Fic: Gazing into the Abyss by mithen (Blake's 7)
(PG, 2045 words. Kerr Avon/Roj Blake. Angst, Spying, Nightmares, Loss.) Avon hacked the Liberator's surveillance system his first day aboard.
Clever, dark Blake/Avon fic in which Avon watches Blake unseen via the Liberator's systems and gets more than he bargained for in several ways - including loss of sleep over Blake's nightmares. It's very true to both characters, the nature of the universe they live in and really well done. (It probably also hits the unrequited pining prompt, for bonus value.)
Poisoning
6. Fic: By The Naked Sword by the_seventh_l (Doctor Who)
(Teen, 295 words. Dystopia, mentions of death, execution and torture) Ask not what your Governor can do for you, but whether he's lived long enough to do anything.
It's only 295 words, but it's a brilliantly sharp portrait of a society and character the Sixth Doctor encounters (Varos, and its governor) - a poisoned society, and a governor sitting on a poisoned throne.
7. Vid: Poison by
calapine (Doctor Who)
(All ages/PG. 3.44 mins. No warnings apply. Eleven/River.) The Doctor (Matt Smith) and River Song (Alex Kingston).
It's a very well-made vid to Poison by Alice Cooper, exploring the Doctor and River's relationship in S5-6, including the literal and metaphorical ways in which they are "poison running through my veins" to each other. It's clever, smartly-edited and observed - and also captures the fun and adventure, too.
8. Fic: Made & Unmade by
selenak (Once Upon A Time)
(All ages/PG, 4556 words. Regina & Snow. S1-2 spoilers. Mentions of death, troubled family relationships.) Snow had given her heart to Regina a long time ago. Snow White and Regina, from the beginning to the end and back again.
A wonderful, in-depth, thoughtful exploration of the relationship between these two, which is, after all, threaded through with several instances of literal poison and poisoned relationships.
9. Fic: Moving Forward by
settiai (Doctor Who)
(All ages/PG, 5025 words. Liz Shaw/Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. Violence, broken relationship, implied sex.) Sometimes all a person can do is move forward and hope for the best.
Gorgeously written fic exploring the Brigadier and Liz, and a possible relationship - what brings them together and what breaks them apart and how they're the same thing. And the incident that starts this and illustrates it, is a matter of poisonous substances in the lab...
Unrequited Pining
10. Fic: Knowing Her Place by
primsong (Doctor Who)
(All ages, 1364 words. Pre-series, no warnings. The TARDIS). That old Type 40 never did fit in. Now it would never be of use again, such a shame, such a shame.
The TARDIS, before the Doctor, longing for freedom to explore the vortex, and someone she can explore it with, but none of her pilots have understood. It's an unusual idea, and it's beautifully done here - the TARDIS voice interspersed between the too-mundane conclusions of the Time Lords deciding what her fate must be.
11. Fic: The Glade by wiccagirl24 (Doctor Who/Sapphire & Steel)
(All ages, 5807 words. Seventh Doctor, Ace McShane, Sapphire, Steel. Ghosts, loss, death.) Sapphire and Steel are assigned to investigate a snow covered glade where something has gone wrong with time. The Doctor and Ace are drawn to the same place, but for them it's spring and the flowers are in bloom. An angry man, a sobbing woman, a mystery.
The power of unrequited emotion is bending time and finding an echo in both Ace and Steel. This is a beautiful story, an excellent, natural-feeling crossover (and works whichever show you have knowledge of) and the characters are very well-drawn and used.
12. Vid: The Baffled King Composing by Aerynrox (Spooks | MI-5)
(All ages, 4.43 mins. Harry Pearce/Ruth Evershed. Warning for one instance of violence/blood). "You think I'm a limited man?"
A vid centring on Harry Pearce and his feelings for Ruth Evershed, his inability to express them, and a complicated requited-unrequited relationship. It's an old vid now (2006!) but it still stands as an excellent, thoughtful exploration of this particular fictional relationship. And also, when it comes to visibly-pining-after-Ruth faces, Peter Firth is king.
13. Fic: Notes on an Exile by
delgaserasca (Spooks |MI-5)
(All ages, 2962 words. Colin Wells, Malcolm Wynn-Jones. No warnings apply.) "Before he leaves, Colin debates over whether or not to write a note." For three months in 1998, Colin is sent to work at the Manchester office. Malcolm sends him tea.
It's unusual to find pining-for-friendship fics, but that's what this is: Colin makes an error and is (coincidentally or otherwise) sent to Manchester for three months, and misses Malcolm, worrying about whether or not they're still friends. It's true to the early series of Spooks, it focuses on two interesting and usually under-written supporting characters, and it's funny and sweet.
14. Fic: Girl in Every Port by tree_and_leaf (Doctor Who)
(Teen, 1170 words. Sarah Jane Smith/Harry Sullivan. References to major character death.) She knew this man when she was younger. He wasn't the one the Doctor was thinking of.
Funny, sweet sad fic that subverts the "unrequited pining" trope in relation to the Doctor and his companions: in this Sarah doesn't pine for anyone, not even the Doctor, thank you. Except perhaps she does, just a little. (It's also a slight role reversal of the way the Harry/Sarah relationship is usually written in fics, too.)
15. Fic: Love Me (Love Me Not) by
laughinggas13 (Doctor Who)
(All ages, 962 words. Eighth Doctor, Charley Pollard. Mild angst, No spoilers.)
Ficlet in which the Doctor and Charley discuss love in general, and not in particular, and Charley has her questions answered, though maybe not in the way she hoped. It's very well done and shot through with the pain of unrequited feelings (but also a fair bit of humour and pragmatism as is usual for these two).
Crossposted from Dreamwidth -- Comments there: