rec post 3/2011 (Glee, Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Merlin, Merlin RPS, Sherlock)
This is a dump of stuff I managed to write up recs for over the past, yes, four or so months. I've decided to post them so I can kill the remaining time before the So You Think You Can Dance livestream. No, I don't know either. My life is weird. Also, I'm a sad excuse for a fandom participant. Anyway.
Glee - Blaine/Kurt
All Summer in a Day by amuly, R, ~11,100 words. It was very gutsy of the author to say they wanted to write the summer hiatus fic to end all summer hiatus fics. I went in with raised eyebrows and came out very very pleased indeed. I don’t know if it’s going to hold up to the title it wants to claim, but it’s a wonderful read. Lovely structure - it uses each hour of the day to get Kurt and Blaine through the summer (hence the title) - and it wonderfully, naturally, in-characterally develops their relationship. Yup, this could (should?) be canon.
Love (Makes You Do the Crazy) and We Are All a Little Weird, and Life's a Little Weird by parsnips, R, ~13,600 words. It’s especially the first one of these that made me go all thinky, mainly because of the author’s use of Darren Criss’s personality and style of dress to give Blaine a backstory - and a reason for why he was bullied - which is all kinds of genius. This is canon-compliant up to Silly Love Songs, so if you read it now, it creates a lovely different way of how things between Kurt and Blaine could have developed; it takes up some of the points in the episode that canon has glossed over and makes a coherent story out of it in a superb way. I love how Blaine starts to figure out how Kurt’s revelation that he’s into Blaine raises Blaine’s awareness of him. It’s also quite hilarious.
comes and goes in a minute by sotto_voice, PG-13, ~6,500 words, is pretty spectacular. It's an intense getting-back-together future!fic with all kinds of awesome detailing that really gets you into Kurt's headspace. It made me tingle all over with how good this is, how mature the boys have become and how they feel out the other in that new incarnation of their personality. Everything by this author is so very very amazing (have a Star Trek AU, for instance), but this one stood out to me so much because of the mood.
From the spaces between the stardust by rikke_leonhart, PG-13, ~14,000 words. Isn’t it funny how much I select stories by titles that appeal to me? This is another instance of that. Anyway, to get into it: This is a proper AU in which Kurt doesn’t go to Dalton to spy but he and Blaine meet anyway. It hurts so much at times, taking up Kurt’s voice and pose so well; there is so much going on here that just resonates a lot. It makes me think about what might have happened if Kurt hadn’t met Blaine... I’m so glad he did in this AU version anyway.
Tandem by fond_ofyou, PG-13, ~10,300 words. This is a behind-the-scenes narrative that takes a look at Blaine and how he feels once Kurt has left Dalton to go back to McKinley. Lovely observations, and I adore the way it works up and then through Blaine’s issues connected to his experiences before Dalton. Cathartic in its conclusion.
Harry Potter
Wizarding World by poor_choices, PG, ~1,000 words. I haven’t read HP fic in a long time and Trio fic even longer, yet I was intrigued when this author - who for the most part I know for her superbly funny CW RPS work - posted this. It deals with transsexuality in the wizarding world and has a lovely structure and POV choice on top of it. Lovely stuff.
The Hunger Games (full trilogy) - Katniss/Peeta
The Unrecorded Hours by hollycomb, R, ~24,000 words. This fic fleshes out the ending of the series in terms of the relationship between Katniss and Peeta, and it does so magnificently. I adore how it manages to smoothly manoeuvre the difficulties of them together as well as pointing out what it is that makes them so right for each other, all the while keeping the emotions fresh and rich and pulling in various other characters from the series, even though it never loses its focus on Katniss and Peeta. It gave me everything I wanted from the ending of Mockingjay and then some.
Merlin - Arthur/Merlin AUs
Pairing: Pendragon/Merlin by Anon at kinkme_merlin, R, ~24,500 words. This has been recced all over the place already. I may not have read it if for that reason, mainly because this is metafic: it engages with fandom directly by making Arthur and Merlin writer and beta within (an alternate) Merlin fandom respectively. I'm sure you could make interesting observations about this in terms of how it talks about fandom, but mostly I just enjoyed the hell out of this. It surprised me into laughter multiple times; I'm not used to laughing out loud over fic. I could recognise so much of how my mind works when trying to figure out what to do with the person on the other side of the computer.
In Love With My Radio by lunchy_munchy, PG, ~34,000 words. I think I recced this before, when it was still anon at KMM, but since then it has been reposted - now with podcasts and graphics making this into a multimedial wonder. It's the delightful story of Arthur stalking Merlin with the help of his radio show, to which Merlin listens, though he doesn't realise it's him Arthur's talking about. What happens is all hilariously odd, and I loved rereading this with so much more awesome added to it.
The Could in People by junkshop_disco, R, ~8,500 words. This is a wonderful modern AU in which Merlin and Arthur's relationship is very honest and human. There's a lot of imperfection (in the sense of the characters) going on here, but I think that's what makes me believe in the universe - it mirrors canon so perfectly yet is also a distinctly separate world. Wonderful stuff.
Merlin RPS - Bradley/Colin
All in the Delivery by junkshop_disco, R, ~2,500 words. This is short and hilarious and filled with wonderful details. Something to keep you warm even though Christmas is long since gone :)
Sherlock - John/Sherlock
Measuring the Size of the Human Voice by lotherington, PG, ~1,000 words. What a gorgeous little fic that tells a story so much huger than its word count might suggest. The short fic has been one of my favourite incarnations of fic, and this uses its words just superbly. It’s based on the premise of everyone being allotted 167 words to speak in a day, no more, and the way it maps out how John and Sherlock communicate with each other is simply beautiful. Wonderfully aware, lyrical writing that doesn’t go overboard. It made me feel so, so many things at once and has been keeping me rambling quite a bit ever since.
A Slowly Dawning Attraction by mitsuruaki, PG-13, ~12,150 words. This is a five times fic centred around kisses. The pacing and UST is simply delicious, the character voices really good, and the interaction keeps it going. Interesting variety of settings which make the fic for me - five times fic can be boring, but this one felt well thought-through. A very relaxing read!
Apotheosis by mad_maudlin, R [John-centric gen, possibly pre-slash, rating for violence], ~16,550 words. This fic is a superb exploration of John hunting down Moriarty, a John that's gone off the road that the BBC version has mapped out for him in a way that's extremely fascinating in how it plays with his character, twisting him until he's John-not-John. It's quite curious, really; there's a lot of depth here, and it totally pulled me in, yet I can't quite say how: the plotty stuff isn't usually my fare, but I couldn't help but be entranced by the way this story unfolds. Even though this is mainly about John, Sherlock plays quite a (central) part to this, even though it's mainly off-stage. A wonderful take in a different direction.
Glee - Blaine/Kurt
All Summer in a Day by amuly, R, ~11,100 words. It was very gutsy of the author to say they wanted to write the summer hiatus fic to end all summer hiatus fics. I went in with raised eyebrows and came out very very pleased indeed. I don’t know if it’s going to hold up to the title it wants to claim, but it’s a wonderful read. Lovely structure - it uses each hour of the day to get Kurt and Blaine through the summer (hence the title) - and it wonderfully, naturally, in-characterally develops their relationship. Yup, this could (should?) be canon.
Love (Makes You Do the Crazy) and We Are All a Little Weird, and Life's a Little Weird by parsnips, R, ~13,600 words. It’s especially the first one of these that made me go all thinky, mainly because of the author’s use of Darren Criss’s personality and style of dress to give Blaine a backstory - and a reason for why he was bullied - which is all kinds of genius. This is canon-compliant up to Silly Love Songs, so if you read it now, it creates a lovely different way of how things between Kurt and Blaine could have developed; it takes up some of the points in the episode that canon has glossed over and makes a coherent story out of it in a superb way. I love how Blaine starts to figure out how Kurt’s revelation that he’s into Blaine raises Blaine’s awareness of him. It’s also quite hilarious.
comes and goes in a minute by sotto_voice, PG-13, ~6,500 words, is pretty spectacular. It's an intense getting-back-together future!fic with all kinds of awesome detailing that really gets you into Kurt's headspace. It made me tingle all over with how good this is, how mature the boys have become and how they feel out the other in that new incarnation of their personality. Everything by this author is so very very amazing (have a Star Trek AU, for instance), but this one stood out to me so much because of the mood.
From the spaces between the stardust by rikke_leonhart, PG-13, ~14,000 words. Isn’t it funny how much I select stories by titles that appeal to me? This is another instance of that. Anyway, to get into it: This is a proper AU in which Kurt doesn’t go to Dalton to spy but he and Blaine meet anyway. It hurts so much at times, taking up Kurt’s voice and pose so well; there is so much going on here that just resonates a lot. It makes me think about what might have happened if Kurt hadn’t met Blaine... I’m so glad he did in this AU version anyway.
Tandem by fond_ofyou, PG-13, ~10,300 words. This is a behind-the-scenes narrative that takes a look at Blaine and how he feels once Kurt has left Dalton to go back to McKinley. Lovely observations, and I adore the way it works up and then through Blaine’s issues connected to his experiences before Dalton. Cathartic in its conclusion.
Harry Potter
Wizarding World by poor_choices, PG, ~1,000 words. I haven’t read HP fic in a long time and Trio fic even longer, yet I was intrigued when this author - who for the most part I know for her superbly funny CW RPS work - posted this. It deals with transsexuality in the wizarding world and has a lovely structure and POV choice on top of it. Lovely stuff.
The Hunger Games (full trilogy) - Katniss/Peeta
The Unrecorded Hours by hollycomb, R, ~24,000 words. This fic fleshes out the ending of the series in terms of the relationship between Katniss and Peeta, and it does so magnificently. I adore how it manages to smoothly manoeuvre the difficulties of them together as well as pointing out what it is that makes them so right for each other, all the while keeping the emotions fresh and rich and pulling in various other characters from the series, even though it never loses its focus on Katniss and Peeta. It gave me everything I wanted from the ending of Mockingjay and then some.
Merlin - Arthur/Merlin AUs
Pairing: Pendragon/Merlin by Anon at kinkme_merlin, R, ~24,500 words. This has been recced all over the place already. I may not have read it if for that reason, mainly because this is metafic: it engages with fandom directly by making Arthur and Merlin writer and beta within (an alternate) Merlin fandom respectively. I'm sure you could make interesting observations about this in terms of how it talks about fandom, but mostly I just enjoyed the hell out of this. It surprised me into laughter multiple times; I'm not used to laughing out loud over fic. I could recognise so much of how my mind works when trying to figure out what to do with the person on the other side of the computer.
In Love With My Radio by lunchy_munchy, PG, ~34,000 words. I think I recced this before, when it was still anon at KMM, but since then it has been reposted - now with podcasts and graphics making this into a multimedial wonder. It's the delightful story of Arthur stalking Merlin with the help of his radio show, to which Merlin listens, though he doesn't realise it's him Arthur's talking about. What happens is all hilariously odd, and I loved rereading this with so much more awesome added to it.
The Could in People by junkshop_disco, R, ~8,500 words. This is a wonderful modern AU in which Merlin and Arthur's relationship is very honest and human. There's a lot of imperfection (in the sense of the characters) going on here, but I think that's what makes me believe in the universe - it mirrors canon so perfectly yet is also a distinctly separate world. Wonderful stuff.
Merlin RPS - Bradley/Colin
All in the Delivery by junkshop_disco, R, ~2,500 words. This is short and hilarious and filled with wonderful details. Something to keep you warm even though Christmas is long since gone :)
Sherlock - John/Sherlock
Measuring the Size of the Human Voice by lotherington, PG, ~1,000 words. What a gorgeous little fic that tells a story so much huger than its word count might suggest. The short fic has been one of my favourite incarnations of fic, and this uses its words just superbly. It’s based on the premise of everyone being allotted 167 words to speak in a day, no more, and the way it maps out how John and Sherlock communicate with each other is simply beautiful. Wonderfully aware, lyrical writing that doesn’t go overboard. It made me feel so, so many things at once and has been keeping me rambling quite a bit ever since.
A Slowly Dawning Attraction by mitsuruaki, PG-13, ~12,150 words. This is a five times fic centred around kisses. The pacing and UST is simply delicious, the character voices really good, and the interaction keeps it going. Interesting variety of settings which make the fic for me - five times fic can be boring, but this one felt well thought-through. A very relaxing read!
Apotheosis by mad_maudlin, R [John-centric gen, possibly pre-slash, rating for violence], ~16,550 words. This fic is a superb exploration of John hunting down Moriarty, a John that's gone off the road that the BBC version has mapped out for him in a way that's extremely fascinating in how it plays with his character, twisting him until he's John-not-John. It's quite curious, really; there's a lot of depth here, and it totally pulled me in, yet I can't quite say how: the plotty stuff isn't usually my fare, but I couldn't help but be entranced by the way this story unfolds. Even though this is mainly about John, Sherlock plays quite a (central) part to this, even though it's mainly off-stage. A wonderful take in a different direction.