Rectober: AUs, fusions, and crossovers
I am not really participating in Rectober, except by virtue of making a recs post in October, but mostly this post is an excuse to mention it because the banners are really pretty:
See? Pretty! Also there were a few recs I wanted to make of things I have read and liked recently. And they are all some kind of AU, fusion, or crossover, so this post is even themed! Hooray!
Vulcan's Most Eligible Bachelor (30149 words) by museattack
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: James T. Kirk/Spock, James T. Kirk/Spock Prime
Characters: T'Pring, Sybok, Leonard McCoy, Amanda Grayson, Christopher Pike, I-Chaya
Additional Tags: Victorian Vulcans, Convenient co-habitation, SEHLATS, Gratuitous "Shore Leave" reference, Age Difference, Courtship, Dance cards, Midnight calls to Bones, Language of Flowers, Love Letters, Jim Kirk wearing a frock coat, Parasols, marriage proposals, Sort-of falling for your first officer, and that old guy who was your first officer in another universe, At the same time
Summary: Jim wasn't the one who saved Vulcan, but he's the one on a transport right now for a month-long stay as an honored guest. What he doesn't realize is they're all going to try and court him...including his first officer.
The tags and notes list this as Victorian courting, but to me it reads a lot like a Regency romance. A hilarious Regency romance. (I am not sure what the difference would be, but anyway.) So in this AU, Vulcan was not destroyed in reboot continuity, and as a result Jim is very popular with the Vulcans. Very popular. As in, they all want to marry him. And they are all very very traditional. I think what really makes it for me is the contrast between them, and, well, Jim Kirk, because this is exactly what you'd get if you dropped him into one of those romances. As the one being courted. And the author just lets him bounce off all the other characters. All the Vulcans are sending him little gifts and asking him to save space on his dance card and he is basically OMG WTF HOW IS THIS EVEN MY LIFE WHAT IS GOING ON. Also Spock Prime shows up, which, you know, I appreciate highly. (I do wish it ended a little better for Spock Prime, though.)
***
Call This World Home (49538 words) by Seascribe
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: due South
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Benton Fraser/Ray Vecchio, Ray Kowalski/Ray Vecchio, Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski/Ray Vecchio
Characters: Benton Fraser, Ray Vecchio, Ray Kowalski, Francesca Vecchio, Maria Vecchio, Ma Vecchio, Harding Welsh, Diefenbaker, Original Female Character(s)
Additional Tags: Kid Fic, Post-Call of the Wild, Angst, Case Fic, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Summary: "You know how people say 'what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas?' Well, this time it most definitely did not." Six weeks after Call of the Wild, Ray Vecchio, back in Chicago and still dealing with the fallout of his time undercover, ends up with a baby he didn't know he had. On top of that, Fraser's back up in the Northwest Territories and being partners with Ray Kowalski is turning out to be more complicated than Ray'd bargained for. Eventually, something's gotta give.
The summary here explains the premise and the AU pretty nicely -- there's no quest, Ray and Ray are partners in Chicago, and, whoops, now Vecchio's got a kid. There are a lot of themes
seascribe returns to in her fic, and I think the two big ones are children and OT3... and this story combines both of them. Very well, of course, because she is an excellent writer and I think she just keeps getting better and better.
The kid in the story is charming, and I say this as someone who doesn't ordinarily read a lot of kidfic. It's also definitely worth it for the Fraser/Ray/Ray dynamic, which is handled with a great sensitivity. And, okay, really my favorite thing is how it's a story of Ray (Vecchio, but to a lesser extent, Kowalski) coming back from undercover and learning how to be himself again. That particular angle is something that shows up in a lot of my favorite dS fic, the question of identity, and I think Seascribe's done a great job with it here.
***
Partners In Exile (20168 words) by Luzula
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: due South, Temeraire - Naomi Novik
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Diefenbaker & Benton Fraser
Characters: Benton Fraser, Diefenbaker, Bob Fraser (due South), Buck Frobisher, Gerard (due South), Ray Kowalski, Ray Vecchio, Original Characters
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Temeraire Fusion, Dragons, Partnership, Case Fic, Canonical Character Death, Episode Remix
Summary: A retelling of the due South pilot as a Temeraire fusion: When Benton Fraser's father dies, he teams up with his father's dragon partner Diefenbaker and together they chase his father's killers to Chicago.
DIEF IS A DRAGON. DIEF IS A TALKING DRAGON WITH FEATHERS AND IF THAT DOESN'T MAKE YOU HAPPY I DON'T KNOW WHAT WILL.
Ahem. Anyway. So, as the summary tells you, this is the dS pilot redone as a Temeraire fusion, with Dief as Fraser's father's former partner. Also, the Rays are partnered with each other in this one; hooray, bonus RayK!
What I think is particularly interesting about this story from a fusion standpoint is that, since it is set much further forward in time from Temeraire, it postulates a world where a lot of the kind of reforms Temeraire (the character) would have wanted for dragons have taken effect. Dragon rights are a thing. Dragons are not slaves in harness! Dragons have their own restaurants and jobs and homes and they don't have to sleep in fields and eat raw sheep unless they actually want to! (Dief does want to, and, much like Fraser, he doesn't quite fit in with society either, poor guy.) And Dief exists as a character in his own right who is still recognizably Dief, which is a feat when you consider that canon Dief is, well, a dog.
And did I mention that DIEF IS A DRAGON?
***
Endless Wonder (2086 words) by thingswithwings
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Welcome to Night Vale, Babylon 5
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Carlos/Cecil (Welcome to Night Vale)
Characters: Carlos (Welcome to Night Vale), Cecil (Welcome to Night Vale), G'Kar, David Corwin, Susan Ivanova, Stephen Franklin
Additional Tags: Crossover, Spacetime travel, Cecil's fashion sense, G'Kar's fashion sense, Nail Polish, Food, Carlos watched a lot of Star Trek growing up
Summary: When Carlos invented a spacetime machine and took off into the wild, unexplored territory of the future, this isn't quite what he was hoping for.
I don't think you need to be especially familiar with Night Vale to appreciate this. It is a story about G'Kar's fabulous fashion sense and Carlos' disappointment that the future does not appear to have any science, although it never occurred to me until right now that this was a thing that was actually true about Babylon 5.
***
I Bet A Lot Of Folks Can Sing In Harmony (18073 words) by lady_ragnell
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Vikings (TV)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Athelstan/Lagertha/Ragnar Lothbrok
Characters: Ragnar Lothbrok, Lagertha (Vikings), Athelstan (Vikings), Ensemble
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Band, Threesome - F/M/M, Road Trips, Bluegrass, Polyamory Negotiations
Summary: Ragnar and Lagertha hear Athelstan busking in a park by chance on the same day they lose their opening act. They convince him to come along with them as they tour their way across the country, and he fits into their lives better than they ever could have hoped.
The author's notes bill this as "the band tour AU this fandom never knew it needed," and, oh wow, are they ever right about that. I really did not think I would be able to picture the Vikings characters as indie folk musicians, but, you know, it totally works! (It probably helps that I like indie folk music. I did get a little distracted trying to figure out how likely it was that an audience of hip college kids would be able to sing along to "Wayfaring Stranger" -- dude, I like the song and I can barely remember the words most of the time -- but I think the band here is maybe a little bluegrassier than I was picturing.)
It is, of course, an Athelstan/Lagertha/Ragnar story (you expected something else from this fandom?) and the tale of how they negotiate their relationship with each other is really, really sweet and they clearly all love and respect each other and I can almost, almost convince myself that the last two episodes of S1 never happened if I try really hard. This story helps with that. And all the characters are awesome, including Bjorn and Gyda.
So even if you wouldn't ordinarily read modern AUs for Vikings fandom, hey, give this one a try! (And if you need even more happy shiny OT3 tropey AU goodness, the same author has things like the three of them in a BDSM club with Ragnar and Lagertha domming the hell out of virginal Athelstan, if that's your thing (and I think it is) and also a canon-era story with the three of them in a soulbond.)
***
You Drive Through the Dust (117385 words) by Dira Sudis
Chapters: 5/5
Fandom: Generation Kill, Iskryne Series - Elizabeth Bear & Sarah Monette
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Relationships: Brad Colbert/Nate Fick, Nate Fick/Original Female Character, Brad Colbert/Ray Person, Nate Fick/Mike Wynn, Pappy Patrick/Rudy Reyes, John Christeson/Evan Stafford
Characters: Nate Fick, Brad Colbert, Ray Person, Mike Wynn, Craig Schwetje, Ray "Casey Kasem" Griego, Stephen Ferrando, Evan Wright, James Trombley
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Psychic Wolves, Non-Monogamy, Animal Death, Harm to Children, Dubious Consent, Minor Injuries, Pack Dynamics, Wolf Pack, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mates, Iraq, Kuwait, Hunting, The Grooming Standard, The Old Ways, Bitches Get Shit Done, Pining
Series: Part 7 of Every Marine a Wolfbrother
Summary: August 2002-August 2003. Nate and Bo lead their platoon to war and bring them home again.
And now I am going to violate the cardinal rule of reccing and rec a story that I actually haven't read, but if you look at the fandoms and author just there, that explains everything. You see, Dira has written another story in her Generation Kill/Iskryne fusion, the series where marines bond to psychic wolves. And OMG it's 100,000 words! 100,000 words of Gen Kill psychic wolves! (I was waiting until the last part went up to read it, so I will probably get around to it sometime tonight.)
I actually read the series before I watched Gen Kill, and ended up watching Gen Kill mostly so I could understand who all these people were. (And went in thinking I would ship Brad/Nate and came out wanting to draw all the sparklyhearts around Brad/Ray, may they insult each other forever, but that is an entirely different story.) I have really loved all the other stories in this series, obviously, and I think in some ways it's a lot more thoughtful about the Fantasy Telepathic Companion Animal genre than the Iskryne series itself is, which is a little weird because I get the sense (I have only read the first one) that Iskryne was supposed to be this shocking, edgy, subversive Pern remix that was supposed to highlight how rapey it all was in case you never realized this about Pern. (My reaction was basically, UM I'M NOT SHOCKED.) Which I guess this series does too, but then it goes on and integrates it all with reality and the modern-day. I mean, geez, there's even a story in this series that is pretty much a celebration of enthusiastic informed consent (following a bunch of off-page dub-con, but still). So basically I highly recommend the series as a whole (and believe me, you can still follow it -- or at least the other stories -- if you've never seen GK) and am looking forward to this one.
Also, psychic wolves just generally sound like an excellent idea. Whee!
So there. Enjoy some fic!
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See? Pretty! Also there were a few recs I wanted to make of things I have read and liked recently. And they are all some kind of AU, fusion, or crossover, so this post is even themed! Hooray!
Vulcan's Most Eligible Bachelor (30149 words) by museattack
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: James T. Kirk/Spock, James T. Kirk/Spock Prime
Characters: T'Pring, Sybok, Leonard McCoy, Amanda Grayson, Christopher Pike, I-Chaya
Additional Tags: Victorian Vulcans, Convenient co-habitation, SEHLATS, Gratuitous "Shore Leave" reference, Age Difference, Courtship, Dance cards, Midnight calls to Bones, Language of Flowers, Love Letters, Jim Kirk wearing a frock coat, Parasols, marriage proposals, Sort-of falling for your first officer, and that old guy who was your first officer in another universe, At the same time
Summary: Jim wasn't the one who saved Vulcan, but he's the one on a transport right now for a month-long stay as an honored guest. What he doesn't realize is they're all going to try and court him...including his first officer.
The tags and notes list this as Victorian courting, but to me it reads a lot like a Regency romance. A hilarious Regency romance. (I am not sure what the difference would be, but anyway.) So in this AU, Vulcan was not destroyed in reboot continuity, and as a result Jim is very popular with the Vulcans. Very popular. As in, they all want to marry him. And they are all very very traditional. I think what really makes it for me is the contrast between them, and, well, Jim Kirk, because this is exactly what you'd get if you dropped him into one of those romances. As the one being courted. And the author just lets him bounce off all the other characters. All the Vulcans are sending him little gifts and asking him to save space on his dance card and he is basically OMG WTF HOW IS THIS EVEN MY LIFE WHAT IS GOING ON. Also Spock Prime shows up, which, you know, I appreciate highly. (I do wish it ended a little better for Spock Prime, though.)
***
Call This World Home (49538 words) by Seascribe
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: due South
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Benton Fraser/Ray Vecchio, Ray Kowalski/Ray Vecchio, Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski/Ray Vecchio
Characters: Benton Fraser, Ray Vecchio, Ray Kowalski, Francesca Vecchio, Maria Vecchio, Ma Vecchio, Harding Welsh, Diefenbaker, Original Female Character(s)
Additional Tags: Kid Fic, Post-Call of the Wild, Angst, Case Fic, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Summary: "You know how people say 'what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas?' Well, this time it most definitely did not." Six weeks after Call of the Wild, Ray Vecchio, back in Chicago and still dealing with the fallout of his time undercover, ends up with a baby he didn't know he had. On top of that, Fraser's back up in the Northwest Territories and being partners with Ray Kowalski is turning out to be more complicated than Ray'd bargained for. Eventually, something's gotta give.
The summary here explains the premise and the AU pretty nicely -- there's no quest, Ray and Ray are partners in Chicago, and, whoops, now Vecchio's got a kid. There are a lot of themes
seascribe returns to in her fic, and I think the two big ones are children and OT3... and this story combines both of them. Very well, of course, because she is an excellent writer and I think she just keeps getting better and better.
The kid in the story is charming, and I say this as someone who doesn't ordinarily read a lot of kidfic. It's also definitely worth it for the Fraser/Ray/Ray dynamic, which is handled with a great sensitivity. And, okay, really my favorite thing is how it's a story of Ray (Vecchio, but to a lesser extent, Kowalski) coming back from undercover and learning how to be himself again. That particular angle is something that shows up in a lot of my favorite dS fic, the question of identity, and I think Seascribe's done a great job with it here.
***
Partners In Exile (20168 words) by Luzula
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: due South, Temeraire - Naomi Novik
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Diefenbaker & Benton Fraser
Characters: Benton Fraser, Diefenbaker, Bob Fraser (due South), Buck Frobisher, Gerard (due South), Ray Kowalski, Ray Vecchio, Original Characters
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Temeraire Fusion, Dragons, Partnership, Case Fic, Canonical Character Death, Episode Remix
Summary: A retelling of the due South pilot as a Temeraire fusion: When Benton Fraser's father dies, he teams up with his father's dragon partner Diefenbaker and together they chase his father's killers to Chicago.
DIEF IS A DRAGON. DIEF IS A TALKING DRAGON WITH FEATHERS AND IF THAT DOESN'T MAKE YOU HAPPY I DON'T KNOW WHAT WILL.
Ahem. Anyway. So, as the summary tells you, this is the dS pilot redone as a Temeraire fusion, with Dief as Fraser's father's former partner. Also, the Rays are partnered with each other in this one; hooray, bonus RayK!
What I think is particularly interesting about this story from a fusion standpoint is that, since it is set much further forward in time from Temeraire, it postulates a world where a lot of the kind of reforms Temeraire (the character) would have wanted for dragons have taken effect. Dragon rights are a thing. Dragons are not slaves in harness! Dragons have their own restaurants and jobs and homes and they don't have to sleep in fields and eat raw sheep unless they actually want to! (Dief does want to, and, much like Fraser, he doesn't quite fit in with society either, poor guy.) And Dief exists as a character in his own right who is still recognizably Dief, which is a feat when you consider that canon Dief is, well, a dog.
And did I mention that DIEF IS A DRAGON?
***
Endless Wonder (2086 words) by thingswithwings
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Welcome to Night Vale, Babylon 5
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Carlos/Cecil (Welcome to Night Vale)
Characters: Carlos (Welcome to Night Vale), Cecil (Welcome to Night Vale), G'Kar, David Corwin, Susan Ivanova, Stephen Franklin
Additional Tags: Crossover, Spacetime travel, Cecil's fashion sense, G'Kar's fashion sense, Nail Polish, Food, Carlos watched a lot of Star Trek growing up
Summary: When Carlos invented a spacetime machine and took off into the wild, unexplored territory of the future, this isn't quite what he was hoping for.
I don't think you need to be especially familiar with Night Vale to appreciate this. It is a story about G'Kar's fabulous fashion sense and Carlos' disappointment that the future does not appear to have any science, although it never occurred to me until right now that this was a thing that was actually true about Babylon 5.
***
I Bet A Lot Of Folks Can Sing In Harmony (18073 words) by lady_ragnell
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Vikings (TV)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Athelstan/Lagertha/Ragnar Lothbrok
Characters: Ragnar Lothbrok, Lagertha (Vikings), Athelstan (Vikings), Ensemble
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Band, Threesome - F/M/M, Road Trips, Bluegrass, Polyamory Negotiations
Summary: Ragnar and Lagertha hear Athelstan busking in a park by chance on the same day they lose their opening act. They convince him to come along with them as they tour their way across the country, and he fits into their lives better than they ever could have hoped.
The author's notes bill this as "the band tour AU this fandom never knew it needed," and, oh wow, are they ever right about that. I really did not think I would be able to picture the Vikings characters as indie folk musicians, but, you know, it totally works! (It probably helps that I like indie folk music. I did get a little distracted trying to figure out how likely it was that an audience of hip college kids would be able to sing along to "Wayfaring Stranger" -- dude, I like the song and I can barely remember the words most of the time -- but I think the band here is maybe a little bluegrassier than I was picturing.)
It is, of course, an Athelstan/Lagertha/Ragnar story (you expected something else from this fandom?) and the tale of how they negotiate their relationship with each other is really, really sweet and they clearly all love and respect each other and I can almost, almost convince myself that the last two episodes of S1 never happened if I try really hard. This story helps with that. And all the characters are awesome, including Bjorn and Gyda.
So even if you wouldn't ordinarily read modern AUs for Vikings fandom, hey, give this one a try! (And if you need even more happy shiny OT3 tropey AU goodness, the same author has things like the three of them in a BDSM club with Ragnar and Lagertha domming the hell out of virginal Athelstan, if that's your thing (and I think it is) and also a canon-era story with the three of them in a soulbond.)
***
You Drive Through the Dust (117385 words) by Dira Sudis
Chapters: 5/5
Fandom: Generation Kill, Iskryne Series - Elizabeth Bear & Sarah Monette
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Relationships: Brad Colbert/Nate Fick, Nate Fick/Original Female Character, Brad Colbert/Ray Person, Nate Fick/Mike Wynn, Pappy Patrick/Rudy Reyes, John Christeson/Evan Stafford
Characters: Nate Fick, Brad Colbert, Ray Person, Mike Wynn, Craig Schwetje, Ray "Casey Kasem" Griego, Stephen Ferrando, Evan Wright, James Trombley
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Psychic Wolves, Non-Monogamy, Animal Death, Harm to Children, Dubious Consent, Minor Injuries, Pack Dynamics, Wolf Pack, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mates, Iraq, Kuwait, Hunting, The Grooming Standard, The Old Ways, Bitches Get Shit Done, Pining
Series: Part 7 of Every Marine a Wolfbrother
Summary: August 2002-August 2003. Nate and Bo lead their platoon to war and bring them home again.
And now I am going to violate the cardinal rule of reccing and rec a story that I actually haven't read, but if you look at the fandoms and author just there, that explains everything. You see, Dira has written another story in her Generation Kill/Iskryne fusion, the series where marines bond to psychic wolves. And OMG it's 100,000 words! 100,000 words of Gen Kill psychic wolves! (I was waiting until the last part went up to read it, so I will probably get around to it sometime tonight.)
I actually read the series before I watched Gen Kill, and ended up watching Gen Kill mostly so I could understand who all these people were. (And went in thinking I would ship Brad/Nate and came out wanting to draw all the sparklyhearts around Brad/Ray, may they insult each other forever, but that is an entirely different story.) I have really loved all the other stories in this series, obviously, and I think in some ways it's a lot more thoughtful about the Fantasy Telepathic Companion Animal genre than the Iskryne series itself is, which is a little weird because I get the sense (I have only read the first one) that Iskryne was supposed to be this shocking, edgy, subversive Pern remix that was supposed to highlight how rapey it all was in case you never realized this about Pern. (My reaction was basically, UM I'M NOT SHOCKED.) Which I guess this series does too, but then it goes on and integrates it all with reality and the modern-day. I mean, geez, there's even a story in this series that is pretty much a celebration of enthusiastic informed consent (following a bunch of off-page dub-con, but still). So basically I highly recommend the series as a whole (and believe me, you can still follow it -- or at least the other stories -- if you've never seen GK) and am looking forward to this one.
Also, psychic wolves just generally sound like an excellent idea. Whee!
So there. Enjoy some fic!
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