Quintessential Longfic Recs
For no real reason whatsoever, I got to thinking about my favorite longfics the other day. If you tossed me onto a deserted island with no internet and only a limited amount of fic to sustain me for the rest of time, these are the stories I would take with me. And I'd be more or less all right with that.
The Paradox Series: An Act of Charity, The Paradox Suite, The Death and Resurrection of the English Language, Entirely Covered in Your Invisible Name, and New Days to Throw Your Chains Away by wordstrings, Sherlock (BBC), Sherlock/John
Wherein the English language dies, Sherlock mourns it, and John revives a dead tongue. -- From The Death and Resurrection of the English Language
This is obviously a recent addition to the list and mayyyyybe it's temporary sort of adoration, but I doubt it. I cannot stop re-reading these. When a new one comes out, it's a DROP EVERYTHING sort of affair. The narrative pulls me in so thoroughly and spits me out going "Oh. OH." every time. It's pretty rare in a fic that I feel like I'm squarely inside a character's brain, but wordstrings does it so effortlessly. Sherlock's brain is simultaneously astonishing, terrifying, wonderful, and most definitely addictive.
Written by the Victors by
cesperanza, Stargate Atlantis, John/Rodney
Caroll, Franklin R. Atlantis Revisited. New York and London, Routledge, 2011.
Chapman, Denise. Several Kinds of Genius: The Life of Rodney McKay. NY: Harper Perennial, 2015.
Croft, Rosalind. City of Spires: A Memoir. Toronto: The Mercury Press, 2009.
Dugan, Paul. A Political History of Atlantis. Oxford: OUP, 2012.
The SGC wants to bring Atlantis back to Earth and John says "No." There's your story in a nutshell. I was completely blown away by this when it was first posted. The scale of it is so huge and it's executed so well. I love the framework, told from the perspective of the characters and also by this assortment of history books and academics interpreting it. I still wish the show had gone in this direction because it fits the characters and the narrative so well and it's so damn smart.
Chicago's Most Wanted by
cesperanza, Due South, Fraser/RayK
"Of course he got the money--he's Fraser, he's organized, he's a fucking criminal mastermind, what do you think?!"
I admit, this one is mostly sentimental.
cesperanza has written quite a few other longfic Due South stories that are equally as great (see: Eight Sessions, With Six You Get Eggroll, Some Strange Prophecy, etc.), but this was the first one of hers I ever read. And so I am extremely partial to it. I love that, much like the show, the premise is rather silly (bump on the head leads to wacky amnesia times!) yet it's genuinely dramatic at the same time. It's pitch perfect characterization. And hey, criminal!Fraser is love.
Stealing Harry by
sam_storyteller, Harry Potter, Sirius/Remus
In an alternate universe where Sirius Black never went to Azkaban, Harry divides his life between the Dursleys' house and Mr. Black's bookshop -- until Sirius realises what the Dursleys are doing to him, and takes him away from their care.
Ah, Sirius/Remus. My OTP to end all OTPs. This story is so hopeful whereas the canon is... not particularly at all. Most S/R fic tends to swing towards the depressing too, unless it's set during the MWPP era (in which case you're STILL pretty likely to run up against something depressing), so it's nice to see something that still feels very much like Sirius and Remus, but if things had gone more or less right instead of wrong at every turn. I blame this story for the completely irrational love of kidfic I have, and also for my being involved in podfic, as it was my first earnest foray into it.
Drastically Redefining Protocol by
rageprufrock, Merlin (BBC), Merlin/Arthur
In which Prince Arthur meets Merlin and all hell promptly breaks lose.
Speaking of forays into podfic! DRP hits all my happy buttons. It's a modern day AU. It has a plethora of witty banter. And again, unlike Arthurian legend which mostly ends in tears, it's so wonderfully happy. I adore the idea of Arthur as a modern day prince of England. And I adore the fact that Merlin is still a little bit magic in it. Funny and heartfelt, and the extras flesh out the universe so beautifully.
The Shoebox Project by ladyjaida and dorkorific, Harry Potter, Sirius/Remus
A collection of letters, photos, and other such in a shoebox belonging to one Messr. Moony. I mentioned the OTP to end all OTPs, yeah? The humor in this is so spot on. I laugh out loud every time I pick it up. Even when it's a bit over the top. At the same time, there at bits in it that define characters for me. It was ambitious, trying to cover the entire history of the Marauders, and is thus unfinished, but it did make a significant dent in it. And the parts are mostly standalone, so it doesn't FEEL like it's unfinished.
Sadly, as there was a hack in 2008, the comm went all esplody, and it's been defunct ever since, I'm reasonably certain that it's no longer posted anywhere. Thank goodness for saved PDF files. *clings*
Stuff by Gheorge2, Star Wars, Luke/Mara
Luke's in a funk, Mara is in need of a decent co-pilot for a trading mission with a search for a missing Republic agent on the side. What could go wrong?
BABY'S FIRST FIC. I'm hugely sentimental about this story. It was the first fic I read where I was really conscious of what fic was. There are bits I take away from it as my personal canon still. It’s funny and plotty and action-y and every few years I pick it up and re-read it again. I'm frankly shocked that it's still online at all when the author was pretty much AWOL when I first read it. Personally, I have a print out of it I made in the 90s that I will probably hang onto for the rest of time.
What's on your quintessential fic list?
This entry was originally posted at http://revolutionaryjo.dreamwidth.org/542975.html.
The Paradox Series: An Act of Charity, The Paradox Suite, The Death and Resurrection of the English Language, Entirely Covered in Your Invisible Name, and New Days to Throw Your Chains Away by wordstrings, Sherlock (BBC), Sherlock/John
Wherein the English language dies, Sherlock mourns it, and John revives a dead tongue. -- From The Death and Resurrection of the English Language
This is obviously a recent addition to the list and mayyyyybe it's temporary sort of adoration, but I doubt it. I cannot stop re-reading these. When a new one comes out, it's a DROP EVERYTHING sort of affair. The narrative pulls me in so thoroughly and spits me out going "Oh. OH." every time. It's pretty rare in a fic that I feel like I'm squarely inside a character's brain, but wordstrings does it so effortlessly. Sherlock's brain is simultaneously astonishing, terrifying, wonderful, and most definitely addictive.
Written by the Victors by
cesperanza, Stargate Atlantis, John/Rodney
Caroll, Franklin R. Atlantis Revisited. New York and London, Routledge, 2011.
Chapman, Denise. Several Kinds of Genius: The Life of Rodney McKay. NY: Harper Perennial, 2015.
Croft, Rosalind. City of Spires: A Memoir. Toronto: The Mercury Press, 2009.
Dugan, Paul. A Political History of Atlantis. Oxford: OUP, 2012.
The SGC wants to bring Atlantis back to Earth and John says "No." There's your story in a nutshell. I was completely blown away by this when it was first posted. The scale of it is so huge and it's executed so well. I love the framework, told from the perspective of the characters and also by this assortment of history books and academics interpreting it. I still wish the show had gone in this direction because it fits the characters and the narrative so well and it's so damn smart.
Chicago's Most Wanted by
cesperanza, Due South, Fraser/RayK
"Of course he got the money--he's Fraser, he's organized, he's a fucking criminal mastermind, what do you think?!"
I admit, this one is mostly sentimental.
cesperanza has written quite a few other longfic Due South stories that are equally as great (see: Eight Sessions, With Six You Get Eggroll, Some Strange Prophecy, etc.), but this was the first one of hers I ever read. And so I am extremely partial to it. I love that, much like the show, the premise is rather silly (bump on the head leads to wacky amnesia times!) yet it's genuinely dramatic at the same time. It's pitch perfect characterization. And hey, criminal!Fraser is love.
Stealing Harry by
sam_storyteller, Harry Potter, Sirius/Remus
In an alternate universe where Sirius Black never went to Azkaban, Harry divides his life between the Dursleys' house and Mr. Black's bookshop -- until Sirius realises what the Dursleys are doing to him, and takes him away from their care.
Ah, Sirius/Remus. My OTP to end all OTPs. This story is so hopeful whereas the canon is... not particularly at all. Most S/R fic tends to swing towards the depressing too, unless it's set during the MWPP era (in which case you're STILL pretty likely to run up against something depressing), so it's nice to see something that still feels very much like Sirius and Remus, but if things had gone more or less right instead of wrong at every turn. I blame this story for the completely irrational love of kidfic I have, and also for my being involved in podfic, as it was my first earnest foray into it.
Drastically Redefining Protocol by
rageprufrock, Merlin (BBC), Merlin/Arthur
In which Prince Arthur meets Merlin and all hell promptly breaks lose.
Speaking of forays into podfic! DRP hits all my happy buttons. It's a modern day AU. It has a plethora of witty banter. And again, unlike Arthurian legend which mostly ends in tears, it's so wonderfully happy. I adore the idea of Arthur as a modern day prince of England. And I adore the fact that Merlin is still a little bit magic in it. Funny and heartfelt, and the extras flesh out the universe so beautifully.
The Shoebox Project by ladyjaida and dorkorific, Harry Potter, Sirius/Remus
A collection of letters, photos, and other such in a shoebox belonging to one Messr. Moony. I mentioned the OTP to end all OTPs, yeah? The humor in this is so spot on. I laugh out loud every time I pick it up. Even when it's a bit over the top. At the same time, there at bits in it that define characters for me. It was ambitious, trying to cover the entire history of the Marauders, and is thus unfinished, but it did make a significant dent in it. And the parts are mostly standalone, so it doesn't FEEL like it's unfinished.
Sadly, as there was a hack in 2008, the comm went all esplody, and it's been defunct ever since, I'm reasonably certain that it's no longer posted anywhere. Thank goodness for saved PDF files. *clings*
Stuff by Gheorge2, Star Wars, Luke/Mara
Luke's in a funk, Mara is in need of a decent co-pilot for a trading mission with a search for a missing Republic agent on the side. What could go wrong?
BABY'S FIRST FIC. I'm hugely sentimental about this story. It was the first fic I read where I was really conscious of what fic was. There are bits I take away from it as my personal canon still. It’s funny and plotty and action-y and every few years I pick it up and re-read it again. I'm frankly shocked that it's still online at all when the author was pretty much AWOL when I first read it. Personally, I have a print out of it I made in the 90s that I will probably hang onto for the rest of time.
What's on your quintessential fic list?
This entry was originally posted at http://revolutionaryjo.dreamwidth.org/542975.html.