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I got the brilliant idea that since I was posting all of my remastered recs pages here anyway, why don't I post new recs as I read them? Shockingly new idea, I know, but sometimes I am slow to pick up on the obvious.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Dodge (Garak/Bashir)
-->Because of course Garak would want Julian even more after knowing that he spent his whole life lying. I just made a little nod of approval when I read this, because it made so much sense.
Emigre (Garak/Bashir)
--> Julian is stranded on Cardassia after the war, and when the word gets out to the Federation that he's shacking up with a Cardassian, he's assumed to be a deserter and banned from Federation space. I like this because of a less-than-rosy view of happily-ever-afters, but also because it's gentle and understated and real.
Fictions (Garak/Bashir)
--> In this Julian makes a move after some of Garak's secrets and weak places are discovered, and Garak assumes that it's because Julian now thinks he's less than dangerous. That's not Julian's reasoning at all, as it turns out, but it's a fantastic look at just how clever Garak actually is, which is to say WATCH OUT UNIVERSE, GARAK IS WATCHING YOU. Short and to-the-point, it's a great look at the inside of Garak's head.
Exile (Garak/Bashir)
--> Pre-series AU, where Julian's secret was discovered far earlier and he was drummed out of Starfleet, ending up serving as a medic on Terok Nor. There, of course, he meets Garak, a "simple tax collector," while also trying to save Dukat's half-Bajoran child and the birthing pains of a Free Bajor are making themselves felt. It felt unfinished, somehow, like I just watched the pilot of a show I'd loved to see more of, but even that worked for me, and I found I liked this version of Julian very much.
Opacity of Paradise (Garak/Bashir)
--> Post-"Under Purgatory's Shadow," Julian has some of Garak's secrets and learns that Garak has his, as well. This leads them to enter into a formal contract that's not unlike marriage, holding each other's secrets close and protecting them, and it's something neither of them have ever had the luxury of sharing before, for different reasons. "Dr. Bashir, I Presume" ends up going very differently, with Garak's clever fingers in the pie, and ultimately the story works for me for all the same reasons this pairing does: it's about two very intelligent men who have never had the luxury of honesty, connecting and being free from deception. The author does a good job showing how staggering the intimacy must be after their lives, and how it effects them in quiet, sincere little ways. Fantastic.
Literacy (Garak/Bashir)
--> Ahahaha, this is everything I love, nothing I hate. A recovering Garak browbeats Julian into reading to him from a Cardassian novel, and Julian finds that some of the metaphors are a little obscure but Garak, of course, refuses to define them. (I think my favorite was: "And what does *this* mean?" "It's an obscure form of "to do." AHAHAHAHA.) There's also a hilarious bit in the middle of Dukat suddenly giving Julian the Kira Treatment, and also there is sex. Good times.
Letters from the Northern Continent (Garak/Bashir)
--> Post-series, Julian leaves on what only seems like a whim to provide emergency medical aid to a slowly-rebuilding Cardassia, the only downside of which is that he's on completely the other side of the world from Garak. They exchanges messages, and Julian goes to visit and there's a whole host of sexual tension, and the moment of truth for them is absolutely brilliant. It's a gentle, sneaky, sweet kind of story, that got inside my head and made me smile.
Doctor Who
Mad Nursing Skillz (Rory/Amy, but mostly gen)
--> This is a great look at Rory post-S5, a regular guy who's been through some crazy stuff chasing the girl he really loves, and the crazy alien he ended up liking too. It's a look at how everybody can shine in the right conditions, and that Rory is awesome at more than just his devotion to Amy, that he's got skills (or skillz) and determination and he's willing to be the caretaker, which Amy and Eleven really kind of need.
Star Trek Reboot
The Orion-On-Vulcan Method (Gaila/Spock Prime)
--> This is a strange little story that makes an absolutely unbelievable pairing work, and work well. Gaila recuperates after the events of the movie on New Vulcan, under Spock Prime's care, and as she gets better and becomes more herself he is more and more charmed, while she respects him and enjoys his company. The way the get-together scene is handled is just awesome, very smooth and mature, and I finished this thinking that I could imagine them being really happy together, which is awesome considering I saw the pairing and went "wait, what?"
Supernatural
Second Glance (Sam/Dean)
--> This is a fantastic portrait of John, aware that his sons are more than brotherly, and paralyzed to do anything about it because there are so many worse things to feel guilty about when it comes to them. It's the idea of family and how John is always going to be a distant second because they wrap themselves in each other so tightly, and that's just another thing he's responsible for. The format is a little strange, lots of big blocks of text and run-on sentences, but it's very fitting for the style, very associative and stream-of-thought, and once I was through the first paragraph I was utterly hooked.
Below Skyscrapers- Dean/Castiel
>--> Oh, but this story is fantastic. It's a cop AU, but it's still urban fantasy, and it's so much grittier and realistic and engrossing than I ever could have imagined. It reminds me a little of the Detective Inspector Chen books, where Heaven and Hell are places people enter and leave, and sometimes you need to call in a specialist. Dean's working a serial killer case with demonic origins, and the specialist called in is, of course, Castiel. This is one of the bookmarks that was lost in the Giant Laptop Disaster, and I just spent an hour tracking it down again; that's how amazing this story is.
The Assumption of the Winchesters (Plus Bobby)- Dean/Castiel
--> Okay, so this was pretty much jossed by Dark Side of the Moon? But I don't even care, and neither should you, because this is the most delicious piece of crack I've ever read. I was in stitches the entire way through the story, and every time I thought it couldn't get more awesome, IT DID. Let's just say that it starts with God putting all the angels in time-out, and it only gets better from there.
Watchmen
Snapshots- Silhouette/Nurse
--> This was the story I didn't even know I wanted after Watchmen. The author creates an entire character for the nameless Nurse that Silhouette kissed and was later killed with, and she's such a fantastic character, just gritty and determined and a little coarse and patient. And it's brutally sad, because of how it inevitably ends, but it hurts so good.
Merlin
Communications In Binary- Arthur/Merlin
--> This is a modern-day AU where Arthur and Merlin become college roommates and have to get over insinctive dislike and become friends and then something more!, and as awesome as that trope is, this author did something new and brilliant by creating a version of Arthur that's not so much autocratic and neurotic, and a Merlin who's much softer around the edges. It's a very different version of their characters, but it's an absurdly charming one, and I can look at them and absolutely see the characters I love in the show, but unlike a lot of AU's it doesn't try to keep them exactly the same in very different settings. This worked for me, a lot, in a way I didn't think it would when I started it. It's also such a slow, awesome build, and two-thirds of the way through you're screaming at them to just kiss, already, and I can only imagine how Morgana and Gwen must have torn their hair out over the two of them.
Tamora Pierce: Tortall
once more for the ages- Daine/Numair
--> A series of snapshots, from shortly before Realms of the Gods to directly after, that looks at the way Numair had already changed around her, long before he figured out he was in love with her, and how utterly frustrating that must have been for Daine to deal with when she didn't understand any better than he did. She describes him as "like two people" in this story, and it captured exactly my feelings about Numair in the third and fourth books, utterly spun around when it comes to his student but totally clueless as to why.
Cut- Daine/Rikash
--> Can I just say, this is not a pairing I ever thought I'd endorse? But truth be told, I always really loved the way their relationship developed in the books, going from an out-and-out enemy to a verbal sparring partner to an unwelcome ally to the friend she cared enough for that she named her son after him. It's just a short bit of a story, set before Realms of the Gods, and even with the kissing it somehow feels more like a friendship fic than anything. Rikash's last line really seals the whole thing for me, because I could imagine him saying something like that to her in canon, too.
Stargate: Atlantis
Angles Thus and So- McKay/Weir, McKay/Sheppard
--> One of the reasons this story works so well for me is because of the way it portrays Rodney and Elizabeth. Sam really hit it on the head when he talked about how Rodney treats her with a respect he shows to no one else, and I liked that he was able to carry it into a sexual relationship for them. I also liked that it genuinely was not a "real" relationship, not even after it's been going on for years and neither of them much bothers to look elsewhere, because they don't so much satisfy a passionate need in each other as a comfortable one. I also like that it took a while for Sheppard and McKay to drift back together, and all of their freakouts when they do, and just how utterly Rodney and John they were about the whole thing. The story feels very much like how rivkat once described the "tragedy of wincest," the feeling of climbing under the blankets and shutting themselves away from the world together; Rodney and John and Elizabeth are the Chosen Three in the first years, and after Elizabeth is gone Sam can't really replace that spot and Rodney and John just spiral ever tighter into each other. It would almost be tragic if I didn't think they'd be non-functional otherwise.
The Difference Engine- McKay/Sheppard
--> This is... okay, this is a John-is-a-robot AU, except it's only barely AU, and the thing that's so creepy about it is that for the most part, this is actual legitimate characterization for John. This is a story where John Sheppard died in Afghanistan and became the first experimental prototype for a program to save damaged soldiers by replacing their brains with computers, and he doesn't even know until a ways into his time in Atlantis. The thing is, though, John-the-robot goes through the same emotional awakening and bonding process that John-the-human does on the show, and he has a team and a family and love and grief, and in the end, it doesn't even matter that he's not properly human. The book he writes, in the last third, is a moving and poignant idea and the whole process after just leaves me smiling mistily. When it comes down to it, though, I always feel like I can sum up the heart of the story with this line: "I wrote myself a computer program just so I could be in love with him."
My Home and Native Land- tiiiiiny bit of background McKay/Sheppard
--> This is the story of how Ronon became Canadian. Which sounds absolutely ridiculous even for this fandom, but here it just works, totally and utterly. It's long and plotty and one of the best Ronon character studies I've ever seen. It's a look at him as a man who's from a technologically advanced military society; for all the show mostly forgot, Sateda looked to be several decades past Earth's development, for example. Ronon here is intelligent, and common-sense, and working his way through growing into his team and learning new friendships and customs and trying to figure out how to belong, but it's not high drama, it's just life. It's a pretty awesome story in general, but it's also really fucking funny. I was gasping with laughter at various points.
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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Dodge (Garak/Bashir)
-->Because of course Garak would want Julian even more after knowing that he spent his whole life lying. I just made a little nod of approval when I read this, because it made so much sense.
Emigre (Garak/Bashir)
--> Julian is stranded on Cardassia after the war, and when the word gets out to the Federation that he's shacking up with a Cardassian, he's assumed to be a deserter and banned from Federation space. I like this because of a less-than-rosy view of happily-ever-afters, but also because it's gentle and understated and real.
Fictions (Garak/Bashir)
--> In this Julian makes a move after some of Garak's secrets and weak places are discovered, and Garak assumes that it's because Julian now thinks he's less than dangerous. That's not Julian's reasoning at all, as it turns out, but it's a fantastic look at just how clever Garak actually is, which is to say WATCH OUT UNIVERSE, GARAK IS WATCHING YOU. Short and to-the-point, it's a great look at the inside of Garak's head.
Exile (Garak/Bashir)
--> Pre-series AU, where Julian's secret was discovered far earlier and he was drummed out of Starfleet, ending up serving as a medic on Terok Nor. There, of course, he meets Garak, a "simple tax collector," while also trying to save Dukat's half-Bajoran child and the birthing pains of a Free Bajor are making themselves felt. It felt unfinished, somehow, like I just watched the pilot of a show I'd loved to see more of, but even that worked for me, and I found I liked this version of Julian very much.
Opacity of Paradise (Garak/Bashir)
--> Post-"Under Purgatory's Shadow," Julian has some of Garak's secrets and learns that Garak has his, as well. This leads them to enter into a formal contract that's not unlike marriage, holding each other's secrets close and protecting them, and it's something neither of them have ever had the luxury of sharing before, for different reasons. "Dr. Bashir, I Presume" ends up going very differently, with Garak's clever fingers in the pie, and ultimately the story works for me for all the same reasons this pairing does: it's about two very intelligent men who have never had the luxury of honesty, connecting and being free from deception. The author does a good job showing how staggering the intimacy must be after their lives, and how it effects them in quiet, sincere little ways. Fantastic.
Literacy (Garak/Bashir)
--> Ahahaha, this is everything I love, nothing I hate. A recovering Garak browbeats Julian into reading to him from a Cardassian novel, and Julian finds that some of the metaphors are a little obscure but Garak, of course, refuses to define them. (I think my favorite was: "And what does *this* mean?" "It's an obscure form of "to do." AHAHAHAHA.) There's also a hilarious bit in the middle of Dukat suddenly giving Julian the Kira Treatment, and also there is sex. Good times.
Letters from the Northern Continent (Garak/Bashir)
--> Post-series, Julian leaves on what only seems like a whim to provide emergency medical aid to a slowly-rebuilding Cardassia, the only downside of which is that he's on completely the other side of the world from Garak. They exchanges messages, and Julian goes to visit and there's a whole host of sexual tension, and the moment of truth for them is absolutely brilliant. It's a gentle, sneaky, sweet kind of story, that got inside my head and made me smile.
Doctor Who
Mad Nursing Skillz (Rory/Amy, but mostly gen)
--> This is a great look at Rory post-S5, a regular guy who's been through some crazy stuff chasing the girl he really loves, and the crazy alien he ended up liking too. It's a look at how everybody can shine in the right conditions, and that Rory is awesome at more than just his devotion to Amy, that he's got skills (or skillz) and determination and he's willing to be the caretaker, which Amy and Eleven really kind of need.
Star Trek Reboot
The Orion-On-Vulcan Method (Gaila/Spock Prime)
--> This is a strange little story that makes an absolutely unbelievable pairing work, and work well. Gaila recuperates after the events of the movie on New Vulcan, under Spock Prime's care, and as she gets better and becomes more herself he is more and more charmed, while she respects him and enjoys his company. The way the get-together scene is handled is just awesome, very smooth and mature, and I finished this thinking that I could imagine them being really happy together, which is awesome considering I saw the pairing and went "wait, what?"
Supernatural
Second Glance (Sam/Dean)
--> This is a fantastic portrait of John, aware that his sons are more than brotherly, and paralyzed to do anything about it because there are so many worse things to feel guilty about when it comes to them. It's the idea of family and how John is always going to be a distant second because they wrap themselves in each other so tightly, and that's just another thing he's responsible for. The format is a little strange, lots of big blocks of text and run-on sentences, but it's very fitting for the style, very associative and stream-of-thought, and once I was through the first paragraph I was utterly hooked.
Below Skyscrapers- Dean/Castiel
>--> Oh, but this story is fantastic. It's a cop AU, but it's still urban fantasy, and it's so much grittier and realistic and engrossing than I ever could have imagined. It reminds me a little of the Detective Inspector Chen books, where Heaven and Hell are places people enter and leave, and sometimes you need to call in a specialist. Dean's working a serial killer case with demonic origins, and the specialist called in is, of course, Castiel. This is one of the bookmarks that was lost in the Giant Laptop Disaster, and I just spent an hour tracking it down again; that's how amazing this story is.
The Assumption of the Winchesters (Plus Bobby)- Dean/Castiel
--> Okay, so this was pretty much jossed by Dark Side of the Moon? But I don't even care, and neither should you, because this is the most delicious piece of crack I've ever read. I was in stitches the entire way through the story, and every time I thought it couldn't get more awesome, IT DID. Let's just say that it starts with God putting all the angels in time-out, and it only gets better from there.
Watchmen
Snapshots- Silhouette/Nurse
--> This was the story I didn't even know I wanted after Watchmen. The author creates an entire character for the nameless Nurse that Silhouette kissed and was later killed with, and she's such a fantastic character, just gritty and determined and a little coarse and patient. And it's brutally sad, because of how it inevitably ends, but it hurts so good.
Merlin
Communications In Binary- Arthur/Merlin
--> This is a modern-day AU where Arthur and Merlin become college roommates and have to get over insinctive dislike and become friends and then something more!, and as awesome as that trope is, this author did something new and brilliant by creating a version of Arthur that's not so much autocratic and neurotic, and a Merlin who's much softer around the edges. It's a very different version of their characters, but it's an absurdly charming one, and I can look at them and absolutely see the characters I love in the show, but unlike a lot of AU's it doesn't try to keep them exactly the same in very different settings. This worked for me, a lot, in a way I didn't think it would when I started it. It's also such a slow, awesome build, and two-thirds of the way through you're screaming at them to just kiss, already, and I can only imagine how Morgana and Gwen must have torn their hair out over the two of them.
Tamora Pierce: Tortall
once more for the ages- Daine/Numair
--> A series of snapshots, from shortly before Realms of the Gods to directly after, that looks at the way Numair had already changed around her, long before he figured out he was in love with her, and how utterly frustrating that must have been for Daine to deal with when she didn't understand any better than he did. She describes him as "like two people" in this story, and it captured exactly my feelings about Numair in the third and fourth books, utterly spun around when it comes to his student but totally clueless as to why.
Cut- Daine/Rikash
--> Can I just say, this is not a pairing I ever thought I'd endorse? But truth be told, I always really loved the way their relationship developed in the books, going from an out-and-out enemy to a verbal sparring partner to an unwelcome ally to the friend she cared enough for that she named her son after him. It's just a short bit of a story, set before Realms of the Gods, and even with the kissing it somehow feels more like a friendship fic than anything. Rikash's last line really seals the whole thing for me, because I could imagine him saying something like that to her in canon, too.
Stargate: Atlantis
Angles Thus and So- McKay/Weir, McKay/Sheppard
--> One of the reasons this story works so well for me is because of the way it portrays Rodney and Elizabeth. Sam really hit it on the head when he talked about how Rodney treats her with a respect he shows to no one else, and I liked that he was able to carry it into a sexual relationship for them. I also liked that it genuinely was not a "real" relationship, not even after it's been going on for years and neither of them much bothers to look elsewhere, because they don't so much satisfy a passionate need in each other as a comfortable one. I also like that it took a while for Sheppard and McKay to drift back together, and all of their freakouts when they do, and just how utterly Rodney and John they were about the whole thing. The story feels very much like how rivkat once described the "tragedy of wincest," the feeling of climbing under the blankets and shutting themselves away from the world together; Rodney and John and Elizabeth are the Chosen Three in the first years, and after Elizabeth is gone Sam can't really replace that spot and Rodney and John just spiral ever tighter into each other. It would almost be tragic if I didn't think they'd be non-functional otherwise.
The Difference Engine- McKay/Sheppard
--> This is... okay, this is a John-is-a-robot AU, except it's only barely AU, and the thing that's so creepy about it is that for the most part, this is actual legitimate characterization for John. This is a story where John Sheppard died in Afghanistan and became the first experimental prototype for a program to save damaged soldiers by replacing their brains with computers, and he doesn't even know until a ways into his time in Atlantis. The thing is, though, John-the-robot goes through the same emotional awakening and bonding process that John-the-human does on the show, and he has a team and a family and love and grief, and in the end, it doesn't even matter that he's not properly human. The book he writes, in the last third, is a moving and poignant idea and the whole process after just leaves me smiling mistily. When it comes down to it, though, I always feel like I can sum up the heart of the story with this line: "I wrote myself a computer program just so I could be in love with him."
My Home and Native Land- tiiiiiny bit of background McKay/Sheppard
--> This is the story of how Ronon became Canadian. Which sounds absolutely ridiculous even for this fandom, but here it just works, totally and utterly. It's long and plotty and one of the best Ronon character studies I've ever seen. It's a look at him as a man who's from a technologically advanced military society; for all the show mostly forgot, Sateda looked to be several decades past Earth's development, for example. Ronon here is intelligent, and common-sense, and working his way through growing into his team and learning new friendships and customs and trying to figure out how to belong, but it's not high drama, it's just life. It's a pretty awesome story in general, but it's also really fucking funny. I was gasping with laughter at various points.
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