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1) You know how some people are just magnets for other types of people? Like Xander was a demon magnet in Buffy, and one of my friends from work is a magnet for crazy people, and apparently I am a magnet for deeply socially awkward people. Like, deeply. There was the guy who wouldn't leave me alone in the Commons last semester because he saw me reading a comic book that one time, and now the guy in my class who stuttered out a request for a date and because I'm not a terrible person I couldn't interrupt; I had to just stand there and let him finish. OMG SO AWKWARD. And if he'd only waited five seconds longer I would have had my headphones on and legitimately wouldn't have heard him. Just, argh.
2) Sometimes I wonder what has gone wrong in my life that I find myself saying, out loud, things like "Stop sticking your nose in awkward places" and "seriously, stop licking me." (This was in reference to my dog, but it's come pretty close with some of my coworkers, now that I'm thinking about it.)
3) Currently working out a topic for the term paper in my New Testament class; I'm leaning towards looking at Gnostic beliefs and how they relate to transgendered people. (Not gonna lie, Hedwig and the Angry Inch is totally the inspiration for this.) I'm not sure that I'm going to find the kind of source material I need, but if I can find it this topic would be so interesting to write.
4) There is no four. Have some recs instead. And by "some," I mean "have a fuckload because Sherlock has eaten my brain."
DC Comics: Toonverse
Aspire to Touch the Sky (Bruce/Diana)
--> Personally, this is my very favorite kind of id-fic. Alternate introduction of Wonder Woman, where the Themiscyrans approach Man's World diplomatically and Diana enters into an arranged marriage with one of its scions for extremely handwaved reasons. It contains some of my very favorite superhero cliches, like schizophrenic behavior: Diana has a relationship and conversations with both Bruce and Batman of different kinds, never knowing that they're the same, and it's kind of delicious to read it knowing what she does. Also it has a totally sex-positive and strong Diana, a woman who is genuinely a warrior princess that is not human, and the author goes out of her way to cast Bruce in the traditionally female role in the relationship and Diana in the male. Also the ending is awesome, even if the plot bits only barely make sense. (Seriously, the plot is not the point of this story. Really.) I always come back to re-read this story because it makes me smile every damn time.
Doctor Who
Where Ever I May Roam (gen)
--> This is just flat-out hilarious. Martha gives the Doctor her phone before she leaves so that he won't have an excuse not to keep in touch, and this leads to all kinds of hijinks and awkwardness. I laughed out loud all the way through, and the last snippet at the end makes the whole thing perfect.
Merlin
Undisclosed Desires (Merlin/Arthur)
--> This has all the intensity and romanticism of the song from which it takes its title, with a healthy dollop of kink. It's all about the mutual discovery of kink between two partners, feeding into and off of each other's desires. It's the intensity of obsession that makes it fascinating and edgy, but it's the underlying current of absolute trust and love that makes it work.
Pride and Prejudice
The Seeds of Doubt (Darcy/Elizabeth)
--> An AU, in which things change because when Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam visit at Rosings, Darcy brings his sister Georgiana with him as well. Elizabeth and Georgiana become fast friends, and their friendship not only helps Georgiana to overcome her crippling shame and awkwardness due to Wickham's betrayal, but also leads to a conversation that Darcy overhears, causing him to reconsider things before that fateful ill-considered proposal. He corrects his mistake with Bingley, engages in attempts to befriend Elizabeth, and she is, against her better judgement, a lot more charmed than she wants to be. There are the occasional problems with commas here and there, which are my worst pet peeve in the world, but even I got past them to enjoy the story, which is pretty excellent all around.
Sherlock: BBC
Distraction and My Object All Sublime (Sherlock/John)
--> Oh, my, this is... something new, and fascinating. It's about Sherlock desperately needing some way to turn off his brain,a nd finding respite in a leather collar. When it's on, John's in charge, period, and he's the only one ever to put it on and take it off. The first story is much shorter, a sort of hesitant beginning, and the second is the two of them fully in the middle of their odd little relationship, working out some of the kinks and rough edges. I want to add that there isn't any actual sex in either of these stories, and I can't even think of it as "kink" so much as a different way of being, but it's definitely a romantic sort of story nonetheless- all of the sense of connection and intimacy that I want from a good romance is here in spades, plus so much more.
Drowning Man, Harbor, and Profit and Loss (Sherlock/John)
--> This series delivered exactly the kind of long, plotty, sincere, and romantic story I've been craving ever since I found this fandom. The first story is the immediate aftermath of the explosive solution to the standoff with Moriarty. The sequel is about all the awkward dancing around they're doing after a certain gesture of affection, getting on with life and moving toward something new. The third story is longer and plottier, with some Mycroft and Moriarty and a vacation of sorts, except all the plot is so brilliantly tethered by the hopeless, sincere, dizzying affection between them. Neither seems to entirely realize how all-consuming it is for the other, but it's all lovely to see. The author has stated an intention to continue with this series, which I can only hope is the truth, but if not this is just lovely all on its own.
Everybody knows I'm in (Sherlock/John)
--> Fic/fanmix that works perfectly well as a story but really is absolutely brilliant when combined with music. (And I'm so insanely picky about this kind of fanmix, you don't even know.) It's sort of a thematic backstory for John, but it's also about how much it sucks to be sick-hopeless in love with someone who doesn't return your affections (especially if they're kind of a dick about it) and the sweeping joy I got when it all worked out was such a rush.
Five times Sherlock didn't eat out, and one time he ate in (gen)
--> Not an idea I would have thought of, but incredibly clever nonetheless. This is a portrait of Sherlock with a social eating phobia, and of John finally getting the point and dealing with it with the same "It's all fine" attitude that makes him such a perfect foil in the first place.
In Arduis Fidelis (gen)
--> Genderbending AU, my favorite! This is a portrait of Jane Watson, military doctor and The Sensible One, and all the ways that it simultaneously screws her up and makes her into something incredible. There's a whole theme of "steadfast in hardship" that describes Watson, John or Jane, down to an absolute t, and there was a sense that Sherlock was both the hardship and the steadfast. Seriously, this is just absolutely fantastic, good at sketching out the gender differences in the military without bludgeoning one over the head, and it's absolutely the story I would have wanted to write if I was about a hundred times more clever.
Inbetween (gen)
--> This is sort of a weird mix of hilarious and touching. John has a nightmare and Sherlock wakes him up to bring him (terrible) tea. And then there's nothing for it but Sherlock has to get the tea right, naturally. The author grabs the weird surreal feeling of what-the-fuck in the morning really well, especially when faced with Sherlock's ridiculosity.
Let Me Kiss You (So Sweet and So Soft (Sherlock/John)
--> Ahaha, I laughed so much. One day Sherlock randomly kisses John and then he just keeps doing it, and John keeps looking for ulterior motives. And at first you think John is being very dense- and then you realize what Sherlock's motives are and it just gets better because seriously, Sherlock can be so utterly weird but so utterly simple. I would also like to add that I adore John in this, just sort of taking all the usual craziness in stride and only putting his foot down when it seriously goes too far.
London Calling (gen)
--> John and his phone, Before Sherlock and After Sherlock, the two great eras of his life. I loved all the little snippets of the various texts and calls he gets, because it's a fantastic portrait of what his life is like now, all the little weirdnesses and how it's become mundane. (The one with Mycroft was my absolute favorite, though.)
Lost Weekend and Hush (Sherlock/John)
--> The first story is Sherlock being left alone for the weekend, which goes very poorly as Sherlock fails to cope with being without John for the first time since they started things. It's a brilliant look at the inside of Sherlock's head, and something about the style and the way the sentences are put together just works for me as a Sherlock POV. The sequel is essentially a sex scene, from John's POV, but it's just so tender and lovely and intimate that it made me ache even as it was making me smile.
Oh, But You're an Explosion (Sherlock/John)
--> First time with an implication of rough sex and all kinds of kink. I like this idea, of Sherlock being this ridiculously intense experience, sexually, because it's hard to imagine him as anything else, frankly. But my favorite bits of this story is John's hilarious and unlikely quasi-friendship with Donovan. The comedy prospects there are just endless.
Only Human (Sherlock/John)
--> Oh, but this story is such a favorite. It's about all of the things Sherlock can't mentally bludgeon his way out of needing just like anybody else: food, and rest, and good health, but also more abstract concepts too, like respect and faith and companionship. John's laughing, sincere, thoughtful affection in this is just fantastic.
Pedestrian (gen)
--> Oh, this is EXACTLY what I wanted after seeing The Great Game, it's the story I would have written myself if I was clever enough. It's a missing scene of John and Moriarty, after John's been kidnapped but before he gets strapped in and sent off to Sherlock. The conversation between them is just brilliant, because both of them score a lot of very cutting points against each other. It doesn't change the outcome at all, we all know what happens when John goes to the pool, but it offers a perspective that I, personally, am going to consider canon because it's just that awesome.
Sexual Needs (Mycroft/John)
--> Ahahaha, this kills me. I'll admit to this pairing kind of creeping me out- Mycroft gives me creepy shivers even though he is a fantastic character- but this story is so note-perfect I love it anyway. sherlock interferes one too many times in John's love life, and when Mycroft makes an offer, John basically goes with it because he's out of other options. And then it pisses Sherlock off A LOT, so of course he decides to pursue it further! I love JOhn like this, resentful and hilarious and laconic.
sherlock and John Make a Baby (From Stuff They Find Around the Flat) (gen)
--> This is hands-down one of the funniest, best pieces of crack I have yet found for this fandom. Sherlock decides, on a whim, that he wants a child. John is sort of drawn along for the ride on this insanity train, and it's just... hilarious. I find myself badly stifling giggles in my American history class. It's genius.
that thing you like (Sherlock/John)
--> Oh man, so much love for this. I've read a bunch of stories about Sherlock bringing John home to meet his family, and somehow this is the only one that's worked for me. I can't even put my finger on any particular bit that sold it, but there was a sense of them trembling on the edge of something new, and when that materialized into their first time it was just lovely, stunningly erotic considering the brevity of the scene.
The Married Ones (Sherlock/John)
--> During a quiet afternoon in, the married couple next door start having enthusiastic, and loud, sex next door, and things get awkward in their living room. Luckily, Sherlock is willing to do what it takes to lessen the awkwardness.
The Paradox Suite (Sherlock/John)
--> An awesome bit of established relationship, looking at Sherlock and John during the early days of sleeping together and moving through a whole host of significant moments that almost get lost in the craziness that is their lives. I like the idea that Sherlock is about as far from normal as you can get but in some ways him falling in love is just the same terrifying, silly, transcendant, everday thing it can be for everybody else. And I liked watching John adapt, figuring out where he could infringe and where he needed to just sit back and let Sherlock do his thing. It's very emotionally satisfying in a lasting kind of way, like a nice juicy steak as opposed to pancakes.
The Thermodynamics Series (Sherlock/John)
--> This story has been recced all over the place, and rightfully so, because it's a piece of joy. The whole thing plays out over the course of a snowstorm, with the heating broken, and Sherlock being... uh, himself. John drags him into bed when Sherlock courts hypothermia, and then it keeps happening, much to John's bafflement. The first three stories are technically gen, I think, but they're also definitely a lead-in to the awesome sex in the final story. Sherlock's particularly awesome in this, an insomniac who stumbles on a cure and then does some of his best finagling in order to make sure that it doesn't get taken away from him. It's also a cool portrait of at least a mostly-asexual Sherlock, who as it turns out is capable of compromise. I loved this so, so much.
The Wrong Tree (sherlock/John)
--> Ahaha, Sherlock, for such a genius you can be kind of an idiot. The story starts with an awesome portrait of Sherlock losing his virginity (I laughed. A lot) and then continues on without interruption till he meets John and things come to a screeching halt. When he does decide to do something about his terrible condition, he goes about it in exactly the worst way possible. This is an awesome first time story for people with a healthy sense of schadenfreude.
Thought Experiments (Sherlock/John)
--> This made me laugh, a lot. Especially the line, Because real people are not like this, because I think this a lot, and I can only imagine that John has to think this all the fucking time. Essentially John makes the fatal mistake of pointing out that Sherlock can't really knock the whole, sex and dating, thing, until he's tried it, and then Sherlock decides to try it with him in the middle of the night. (Naturally.) Has a lovely happy ending, though, with a hilarious awkward Sherlock and a clever teasing John and I enjoyed the whole thing enormously.
Touchy, Feely (gen)
--> This story gives me so much joy. Sherlock and John are handcuffed together and John takes advantage of the situation in order to make Sherlock answer embarassing personal questions. John's so hilariously ruthless about it, too. (POKED HIM INTO SUBMISSION.) I like this John very much, who puts up with Sherlock's crazy but shamelessly gets his own back when he gets bored or curious. Also I spent this entire story giggling like a twelve-year-old boy over penis jokes. It's glorious.
Unusual Symmetry (Sherlock/John)
--> This is asexual!Sherlock, which is gloriously common in this fandom, but also Sherlock who is unwilling to compromise with John about sexual favors, which is less so. And it's fantastic. There's just something about the way the author managed to portray Sherlock's way of love, the sense of mental and emotional intimacy and even physical, in his own very particular way, that just worked for me. By the end it also gives a sense that they're still finding their way around the boundaries of their relationship, that sherlock is more willing to compromise than he'd expected because John is more giving than he could have imagined, and the sense of newfound, kindling sensuality between them is just gorgeous. I also liked the line about John being able to distinguish between emotional reaction and logical understanding, because of course Sherlock would fall for him, how could he not?
Sherlock Holmes: movie
Intemperence (gen)
--> I kinda... don't want to ruin the premise of the story because it's such a great suprise, but essentially, Holmes is in truth a woman, and has made a VERY BIG MISTAKE and has to get help from Watson and Mary. It's a great story about friendship and acceptance and living outside the box and all sorts of strange intimacies, and it has Holmes and Mary very much in cahoots for a lot of it and poor Watson trying to be the bastion of propriety and failing miserably. It's also very, very, very funny.
Stargate: Atlantis
Running Tally (McKay/Sheppard)
--> This is really awesome, slow and sort of everyday-ish but really sweet and clever. After his breakup with Jennifer Rodney starts to notice Sheppard acting different, and it's... almost like he's happy. Rodney's pretty worried, honestly. (Seriously, I laughed a lot.)
Sheppard's Pie (Mckay/Sheppard)
--> This is sort of the history of Rodney and John and pie. Which seems a little odd, but trust me, as a connecting thread this author manages to make it work. It spans pretty much all five season of the show and then some, tracing the changes in the senior staff and the relationships between them, the way they grow and shift and move closer together and further apart, and it has a bit of oblivious!Rodney but in an oddly respectful and tender sort of way. None of it was played for laughs, except for the underlying "how are our lives so ridiculous" kind of way, and that really worked for me here.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
An Indecent Proposal and Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them (Garak/Bashir)
--> The first story is very short and almost unbearably funny. The second story is entirely different in tone, not lacking in humor but dryly witty instead, with a kind of worn, steady sense of the ridiculous and finding enjoyment even in the bizarre that I enjoyed so much of Julian's character in later seasons. I like the Persephone-esque compromise in their relationship, too, and it made me respect Julian a lot; it showed commmon sense but I was also left with a sense that someday, Julian and his surroundings would adjust to one another well enough that it won't be necessary. Overall romantic in an workmanlike, everyday sort of way, and highly enjoyable.
Cultural Miscues (Garak/Bashir)
--> After the episode "Destiny," in which we the viewers are given such excellent fanfic fodder in the revelation that Cardassians flirt by arguing over intellectual matters, Gilora chooses to switch her attentions to the charming and intelligent Doctor Bashir... only to be warned off by Garak, while Julian is none the wiser. He does figure it out, though. I really enjoyed this story, enough to rec it on the second read-through, but the characterization of Jadzia didn't work for me, which left me kind of ambivalent on the first read. YMMV, however.
Supernatural
all the stars wouldn't fall from the sky (Sam/Dean)
--> Oh, Sam. Oh, Dean. Post-Swan Song, Sam is back and hunting to make up for his past sins and trying to let Dean live his normal life- only Dean runs into him on a hunt, and doesn't think much of Sam's self-sacrifice. As much as I love the idea of Sam and Dean falling into each other instantly, I also really loved reading this because it didn't make things that easy; there's just so much crap from their lives, and that didn't just get out of their way just because they beat the odds again. (Definitely a happy ending, though. I mean, come on, this is me.)
Excerpts From Carver Edlund's Magnum Opus (Dean/Castiel)
--> OKay, this is a cop-show AU that just happens to be a Bones fusion and it's GENIUS. This took all of my favorite things from two awesome Thursday night shows, and it combined them into one beautiful, beautiful whole. Let me just say: Dean is Booth, and Cas is Bones, and Sam is Sweets, and Gabriel is Hodgins, and Chuck is the grad student writing fictional novels about Dean and Cas' epic crime-solving love affair. There is nothing that isn't amazing about this. NOTHING.
Fightin' Words (gen)
--> This is not only a funny story, it's a string of funny stories. An unfortunate event on a hunt (that is slowly revealed through the course of the story) leads Sam and Dean to a battle of dueling embarassing stories, and let me tell you, they have a lot to choose from.
Road to Shambala (Sam/Dean)
--> One night, after an alternate defeat of the YED, Sam and Dean get drunk and things happen. And that's just the beginning of the story, as they wander through a case and detour into a vacation in New Orleans, and Dean's just waiting for Sam to leave and as it turns out, Sam's not exactly ready to leave.
Sumer is icumen in (Sam/Dean)
--> When Sam is hospitalized on account of a curse, an "asshole doctor" (cue sneaky House crossover) runs an ilicit DNA test and discovers that they're not biologically related after all. And Dean does his best to keep things from changing between them, he tries so hard, but he can't keep it from mattering. But there's still all this awful, terrible love between them, and the strain gets worse because they don't know what to do with it- until something finally breaks between them. Gorgeous.
Supernatural RPS
Dork Reign: A Tale of Geek Love (Jensen/Jared)
--> Jensen is the Lord King Geek who is the owner of a comic shop in San Antonio, and Jared is the guy who gets a Tiny Titans comic for his goddaughter and ran away like his ass was on fire the one time Jensen tried to talk to him. This is just adorable, and laugh-out-loud funny for anyone who speaks Geek, which is probably most of you.
The Fast and the Furious
Female Trouble part 1 and part 2 and part 3 (Dom/Brian, some Brian/Rome)
--> I will tell you upfront, the title is deceptive. It makes it seem like it's this whole wacky thing, and it's not at all. It's got kind of a slow, rocking rhythm, both Brian and Dom separately uneasy in their lives and them Dom finally going "okay, enough" and tracking down Brian. The moment of their meeting is electric, explosive, joyous, and just exactly right. I like Brian's crazy recklessness and how it's not bravery but Brian can be brave too, in ways that matter even more than his crazy stunts to win a race. I like Dom being steadier, not entirely sure of what he wants or how to get it but willing to take the steps and do the work and follow a path. And Rome is brilliant, mercurial and unsettled and unsettling, but still a best friend even when he's clearly a raging asshsole. Awesome, awesome story, well-worth the afternoon.
Rewind (Dom/Brian)
--> An AU of the famous last race from the first movie, where instead of giving Dom the keys, Brian runs with him. I liked this a lot because it was a good look at just how good of a criminal a cop could really be if he put his mind to it, and I always like stories that give Brian a chance to be competend and clever because, uh, that was not exactly the impression I got from that movie. The pacing was a little odd in the second half, slow in places and skipping ahead in others, but in the end it actually worked for me. Good stuff.
White COllar
Somewhere I Have Never Travelled (Neal/Peter, hint of Neal/Peter/Elizabeth)
--> Mmm, a really awesome clever bit of AU. Peter went corporate instead of Fed, and he still ends up catching Neal, only this time he puts a bit of a personal spin on hanging onto him. I loved the way it played out, and especially liked the way it dealt with Kate and Mozzie, showing that the perfect trio canon!Neal remembers wasn't necessarily so perfect (though Mozzie is, obviously, perfect just as he is) and how it didn't flinch from Neal's ideas of fidelity and where they are and aren't flexible. Plus the epilogue was note-perfect, because I can't bear the idea of any version of Peter without Elizabeth.
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2) Sometimes I wonder what has gone wrong in my life that I find myself saying, out loud, things like "Stop sticking your nose in awkward places" and "seriously, stop licking me." (This was in reference to my dog, but it's come pretty close with some of my coworkers, now that I'm thinking about it.)
3) Currently working out a topic for the term paper in my New Testament class; I'm leaning towards looking at Gnostic beliefs and how they relate to transgendered people. (Not gonna lie, Hedwig and the Angry Inch is totally the inspiration for this.) I'm not sure that I'm going to find the kind of source material I need, but if I can find it this topic would be so interesting to write.
4) There is no four. Have some recs instead. And by "some," I mean "have a fuckload because Sherlock has eaten my brain."
DC Comics: Toonverse
Aspire to Touch the Sky (Bruce/Diana)
--> Personally, this is my very favorite kind of id-fic. Alternate introduction of Wonder Woman, where the Themiscyrans approach Man's World diplomatically and Diana enters into an arranged marriage with one of its scions for extremely handwaved reasons. It contains some of my very favorite superhero cliches, like schizophrenic behavior: Diana has a relationship and conversations with both Bruce and Batman of different kinds, never knowing that they're the same, and it's kind of delicious to read it knowing what she does. Also it has a totally sex-positive and strong Diana, a woman who is genuinely a warrior princess that is not human, and the author goes out of her way to cast Bruce in the traditionally female role in the relationship and Diana in the male. Also the ending is awesome, even if the plot bits only barely make sense. (Seriously, the plot is not the point of this story. Really.) I always come back to re-read this story because it makes me smile every damn time.
Doctor Who
Where Ever I May Roam (gen)
--> This is just flat-out hilarious. Martha gives the Doctor her phone before she leaves so that he won't have an excuse not to keep in touch, and this leads to all kinds of hijinks and awkwardness. I laughed out loud all the way through, and the last snippet at the end makes the whole thing perfect.
Merlin
Undisclosed Desires (Merlin/Arthur)
--> This has all the intensity and romanticism of the song from which it takes its title, with a healthy dollop of kink. It's all about the mutual discovery of kink between two partners, feeding into and off of each other's desires. It's the intensity of obsession that makes it fascinating and edgy, but it's the underlying current of absolute trust and love that makes it work.
Pride and Prejudice
The Seeds of Doubt (Darcy/Elizabeth)
--> An AU, in which things change because when Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam visit at Rosings, Darcy brings his sister Georgiana with him as well. Elizabeth and Georgiana become fast friends, and their friendship not only helps Georgiana to overcome her crippling shame and awkwardness due to Wickham's betrayal, but also leads to a conversation that Darcy overhears, causing him to reconsider things before that fateful ill-considered proposal. He corrects his mistake with Bingley, engages in attempts to befriend Elizabeth, and she is, against her better judgement, a lot more charmed than she wants to be. There are the occasional problems with commas here and there, which are my worst pet peeve in the world, but even I got past them to enjoy the story, which is pretty excellent all around.
Sherlock: BBC
Distraction and My Object All Sublime (Sherlock/John)
--> Oh, my, this is... something new, and fascinating. It's about Sherlock desperately needing some way to turn off his brain,a nd finding respite in a leather collar. When it's on, John's in charge, period, and he's the only one ever to put it on and take it off. The first story is much shorter, a sort of hesitant beginning, and the second is the two of them fully in the middle of their odd little relationship, working out some of the kinks and rough edges. I want to add that there isn't any actual sex in either of these stories, and I can't even think of it as "kink" so much as a different way of being, but it's definitely a romantic sort of story nonetheless- all of the sense of connection and intimacy that I want from a good romance is here in spades, plus so much more.
Drowning Man, Harbor, and Profit and Loss (Sherlock/John)
--> This series delivered exactly the kind of long, plotty, sincere, and romantic story I've been craving ever since I found this fandom. The first story is the immediate aftermath of the explosive solution to the standoff with Moriarty. The sequel is about all the awkward dancing around they're doing after a certain gesture of affection, getting on with life and moving toward something new. The third story is longer and plottier, with some Mycroft and Moriarty and a vacation of sorts, except all the plot is so brilliantly tethered by the hopeless, sincere, dizzying affection between them. Neither seems to entirely realize how all-consuming it is for the other, but it's all lovely to see. The author has stated an intention to continue with this series, which I can only hope is the truth, but if not this is just lovely all on its own.
Everybody knows I'm in (Sherlock/John)
--> Fic/fanmix that works perfectly well as a story but really is absolutely brilliant when combined with music. (And I'm so insanely picky about this kind of fanmix, you don't even know.) It's sort of a thematic backstory for John, but it's also about how much it sucks to be sick-hopeless in love with someone who doesn't return your affections (especially if they're kind of a dick about it) and the sweeping joy I got when it all worked out was such a rush.
Five times Sherlock didn't eat out, and one time he ate in (gen)
--> Not an idea I would have thought of, but incredibly clever nonetheless. This is a portrait of Sherlock with a social eating phobia, and of John finally getting the point and dealing with it with the same "It's all fine" attitude that makes him such a perfect foil in the first place.
In Arduis Fidelis (gen)
--> Genderbending AU, my favorite! This is a portrait of Jane Watson, military doctor and The Sensible One, and all the ways that it simultaneously screws her up and makes her into something incredible. There's a whole theme of "steadfast in hardship" that describes Watson, John or Jane, down to an absolute t, and there was a sense that Sherlock was both the hardship and the steadfast. Seriously, this is just absolutely fantastic, good at sketching out the gender differences in the military without bludgeoning one over the head, and it's absolutely the story I would have wanted to write if I was about a hundred times more clever.
Inbetween (gen)
--> This is sort of a weird mix of hilarious and touching. John has a nightmare and Sherlock wakes him up to bring him (terrible) tea. And then there's nothing for it but Sherlock has to get the tea right, naturally. The author grabs the weird surreal feeling of what-the-fuck in the morning really well, especially when faced with Sherlock's ridiculosity.
Let Me Kiss You (So Sweet and So Soft (Sherlock/John)
--> Ahaha, I laughed so much. One day Sherlock randomly kisses John and then he just keeps doing it, and John keeps looking for ulterior motives. And at first you think John is being very dense- and then you realize what Sherlock's motives are and it just gets better because seriously, Sherlock can be so utterly weird but so utterly simple. I would also like to add that I adore John in this, just sort of taking all the usual craziness in stride and only putting his foot down when it seriously goes too far.
London Calling (gen)
--> John and his phone, Before Sherlock and After Sherlock, the two great eras of his life. I loved all the little snippets of the various texts and calls he gets, because it's a fantastic portrait of what his life is like now, all the little weirdnesses and how it's become mundane. (The one with Mycroft was my absolute favorite, though.)
Lost Weekend and Hush (Sherlock/John)
--> The first story is Sherlock being left alone for the weekend, which goes very poorly as Sherlock fails to cope with being without John for the first time since they started things. It's a brilliant look at the inside of Sherlock's head, and something about the style and the way the sentences are put together just works for me as a Sherlock POV. The sequel is essentially a sex scene, from John's POV, but it's just so tender and lovely and intimate that it made me ache even as it was making me smile.
Oh, But You're an Explosion (Sherlock/John)
--> First time with an implication of rough sex and all kinds of kink. I like this idea, of Sherlock being this ridiculously intense experience, sexually, because it's hard to imagine him as anything else, frankly. But my favorite bits of this story is John's hilarious and unlikely quasi-friendship with Donovan. The comedy prospects there are just endless.
Only Human (Sherlock/John)
--> Oh, but this story is such a favorite. It's about all of the things Sherlock can't mentally bludgeon his way out of needing just like anybody else: food, and rest, and good health, but also more abstract concepts too, like respect and faith and companionship. John's laughing, sincere, thoughtful affection in this is just fantastic.
Pedestrian (gen)
--> Oh, this is EXACTLY what I wanted after seeing The Great Game, it's the story I would have written myself if I was clever enough. It's a missing scene of John and Moriarty, after John's been kidnapped but before he gets strapped in and sent off to Sherlock. The conversation between them is just brilliant, because both of them score a lot of very cutting points against each other. It doesn't change the outcome at all, we all know what happens when John goes to the pool, but it offers a perspective that I, personally, am going to consider canon because it's just that awesome.
Sexual Needs (Mycroft/John)
--> Ahahaha, this kills me. I'll admit to this pairing kind of creeping me out- Mycroft gives me creepy shivers even though he is a fantastic character- but this story is so note-perfect I love it anyway. sherlock interferes one too many times in John's love life, and when Mycroft makes an offer, John basically goes with it because he's out of other options. And then it pisses Sherlock off A LOT, so of course he decides to pursue it further! I love JOhn like this, resentful and hilarious and laconic.
sherlock and John Make a Baby (From Stuff They Find Around the Flat) (gen)
--> This is hands-down one of the funniest, best pieces of crack I have yet found for this fandom. Sherlock decides, on a whim, that he wants a child. John is sort of drawn along for the ride on this insanity train, and it's just... hilarious. I find myself badly stifling giggles in my American history class. It's genius.
that thing you like (Sherlock/John)
--> Oh man, so much love for this. I've read a bunch of stories about Sherlock bringing John home to meet his family, and somehow this is the only one that's worked for me. I can't even put my finger on any particular bit that sold it, but there was a sense of them trembling on the edge of something new, and when that materialized into their first time it was just lovely, stunningly erotic considering the brevity of the scene.
The Married Ones (Sherlock/John)
--> During a quiet afternoon in, the married couple next door start having enthusiastic, and loud, sex next door, and things get awkward in their living room. Luckily, Sherlock is willing to do what it takes to lessen the awkwardness.
The Paradox Suite (Sherlock/John)
--> An awesome bit of established relationship, looking at Sherlock and John during the early days of sleeping together and moving through a whole host of significant moments that almost get lost in the craziness that is their lives. I like the idea that Sherlock is about as far from normal as you can get but in some ways him falling in love is just the same terrifying, silly, transcendant, everday thing it can be for everybody else. And I liked watching John adapt, figuring out where he could infringe and where he needed to just sit back and let Sherlock do his thing. It's very emotionally satisfying in a lasting kind of way, like a nice juicy steak as opposed to pancakes.
The Thermodynamics Series (Sherlock/John)
--> This story has been recced all over the place, and rightfully so, because it's a piece of joy. The whole thing plays out over the course of a snowstorm, with the heating broken, and Sherlock being... uh, himself. John drags him into bed when Sherlock courts hypothermia, and then it keeps happening, much to John's bafflement. The first three stories are technically gen, I think, but they're also definitely a lead-in to the awesome sex in the final story. Sherlock's particularly awesome in this, an insomniac who stumbles on a cure and then does some of his best finagling in order to make sure that it doesn't get taken away from him. It's also a cool portrait of at least a mostly-asexual Sherlock, who as it turns out is capable of compromise. I loved this so, so much.
The Wrong Tree (sherlock/John)
--> Ahaha, Sherlock, for such a genius you can be kind of an idiot. The story starts with an awesome portrait of Sherlock losing his virginity (I laughed. A lot) and then continues on without interruption till he meets John and things come to a screeching halt. When he does decide to do something about his terrible condition, he goes about it in exactly the worst way possible. This is an awesome first time story for people with a healthy sense of schadenfreude.
Thought Experiments (Sherlock/John)
--> This made me laugh, a lot. Especially the line, Because real people are not like this, because I think this a lot, and I can only imagine that John has to think this all the fucking time. Essentially John makes the fatal mistake of pointing out that Sherlock can't really knock the whole, sex and dating, thing, until he's tried it, and then Sherlock decides to try it with him in the middle of the night. (Naturally.) Has a lovely happy ending, though, with a hilarious awkward Sherlock and a clever teasing John and I enjoyed the whole thing enormously.
Touchy, Feely (gen)
--> This story gives me so much joy. Sherlock and John are handcuffed together and John takes advantage of the situation in order to make Sherlock answer embarassing personal questions. John's so hilariously ruthless about it, too. (POKED HIM INTO SUBMISSION.) I like this John very much, who puts up with Sherlock's crazy but shamelessly gets his own back when he gets bored or curious. Also I spent this entire story giggling like a twelve-year-old boy over penis jokes. It's glorious.
Unusual Symmetry (Sherlock/John)
--> This is asexual!Sherlock, which is gloriously common in this fandom, but also Sherlock who is unwilling to compromise with John about sexual favors, which is less so. And it's fantastic. There's just something about the way the author managed to portray Sherlock's way of love, the sense of mental and emotional intimacy and even physical, in his own very particular way, that just worked for me. By the end it also gives a sense that they're still finding their way around the boundaries of their relationship, that sherlock is more willing to compromise than he'd expected because John is more giving than he could have imagined, and the sense of newfound, kindling sensuality between them is just gorgeous. I also liked the line about John being able to distinguish between emotional reaction and logical understanding, because of course Sherlock would fall for him, how could he not?
Sherlock Holmes: movie
Intemperence (gen)
--> I kinda... don't want to ruin the premise of the story because it's such a great suprise, but essentially, Holmes is in truth a woman, and has made a VERY BIG MISTAKE and has to get help from Watson and Mary. It's a great story about friendship and acceptance and living outside the box and all sorts of strange intimacies, and it has Holmes and Mary very much in cahoots for a lot of it and poor Watson trying to be the bastion of propriety and failing miserably. It's also very, very, very funny.
Stargate: Atlantis
Running Tally (McKay/Sheppard)
--> This is really awesome, slow and sort of everyday-ish but really sweet and clever. After his breakup with Jennifer Rodney starts to notice Sheppard acting different, and it's... almost like he's happy. Rodney's pretty worried, honestly. (Seriously, I laughed a lot.)
Sheppard's Pie (Mckay/Sheppard)
--> This is sort of the history of Rodney and John and pie. Which seems a little odd, but trust me, as a connecting thread this author manages to make it work. It spans pretty much all five season of the show and then some, tracing the changes in the senior staff and the relationships between them, the way they grow and shift and move closer together and further apart, and it has a bit of oblivious!Rodney but in an oddly respectful and tender sort of way. None of it was played for laughs, except for the underlying "how are our lives so ridiculous" kind of way, and that really worked for me here.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
An Indecent Proposal and Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them (Garak/Bashir)
--> The first story is very short and almost unbearably funny. The second story is entirely different in tone, not lacking in humor but dryly witty instead, with a kind of worn, steady sense of the ridiculous and finding enjoyment even in the bizarre that I enjoyed so much of Julian's character in later seasons. I like the Persephone-esque compromise in their relationship, too, and it made me respect Julian a lot; it showed commmon sense but I was also left with a sense that someday, Julian and his surroundings would adjust to one another well enough that it won't be necessary. Overall romantic in an workmanlike, everyday sort of way, and highly enjoyable.
Cultural Miscues (Garak/Bashir)
--> After the episode "Destiny," in which we the viewers are given such excellent fanfic fodder in the revelation that Cardassians flirt by arguing over intellectual matters, Gilora chooses to switch her attentions to the charming and intelligent Doctor Bashir... only to be warned off by Garak, while Julian is none the wiser. He does figure it out, though. I really enjoyed this story, enough to rec it on the second read-through, but the characterization of Jadzia didn't work for me, which left me kind of ambivalent on the first read. YMMV, however.
Supernatural
all the stars wouldn't fall from the sky (Sam/Dean)
--> Oh, Sam. Oh, Dean. Post-Swan Song, Sam is back and hunting to make up for his past sins and trying to let Dean live his normal life- only Dean runs into him on a hunt, and doesn't think much of Sam's self-sacrifice. As much as I love the idea of Sam and Dean falling into each other instantly, I also really loved reading this because it didn't make things that easy; there's just so much crap from their lives, and that didn't just get out of their way just because they beat the odds again. (Definitely a happy ending, though. I mean, come on, this is me.)
Excerpts From Carver Edlund's Magnum Opus (Dean/Castiel)
--> OKay, this is a cop-show AU that just happens to be a Bones fusion and it's GENIUS. This took all of my favorite things from two awesome Thursday night shows, and it combined them into one beautiful, beautiful whole. Let me just say: Dean is Booth, and Cas is Bones, and Sam is Sweets, and Gabriel is Hodgins, and Chuck is the grad student writing fictional novels about Dean and Cas' epic crime-solving love affair. There is nothing that isn't amazing about this. NOTHING.
Fightin' Words (gen)
--> This is not only a funny story, it's a string of funny stories. An unfortunate event on a hunt (that is slowly revealed through the course of the story) leads Sam and Dean to a battle of dueling embarassing stories, and let me tell you, they have a lot to choose from.
Road to Shambala (Sam/Dean)
--> One night, after an alternate defeat of the YED, Sam and Dean get drunk and things happen. And that's just the beginning of the story, as they wander through a case and detour into a vacation in New Orleans, and Dean's just waiting for Sam to leave and as it turns out, Sam's not exactly ready to leave.
Sumer is icumen in (Sam/Dean)
--> When Sam is hospitalized on account of a curse, an "asshole doctor" (cue sneaky House crossover) runs an ilicit DNA test and discovers that they're not biologically related after all. And Dean does his best to keep things from changing between them, he tries so hard, but he can't keep it from mattering. But there's still all this awful, terrible love between them, and the strain gets worse because they don't know what to do with it- until something finally breaks between them. Gorgeous.
Supernatural RPS
Dork Reign: A Tale of Geek Love (Jensen/Jared)
--> Jensen is the Lord King Geek who is the owner of a comic shop in San Antonio, and Jared is the guy who gets a Tiny Titans comic for his goddaughter and ran away like his ass was on fire the one time Jensen tried to talk to him. This is just adorable, and laugh-out-loud funny for anyone who speaks Geek, which is probably most of you.
The Fast and the Furious
Female Trouble part 1 and part 2 and part 3 (Dom/Brian, some Brian/Rome)
--> I will tell you upfront, the title is deceptive. It makes it seem like it's this whole wacky thing, and it's not at all. It's got kind of a slow, rocking rhythm, both Brian and Dom separately uneasy in their lives and them Dom finally going "okay, enough" and tracking down Brian. The moment of their meeting is electric, explosive, joyous, and just exactly right. I like Brian's crazy recklessness and how it's not bravery but Brian can be brave too, in ways that matter even more than his crazy stunts to win a race. I like Dom being steadier, not entirely sure of what he wants or how to get it but willing to take the steps and do the work and follow a path. And Rome is brilliant, mercurial and unsettled and unsettling, but still a best friend even when he's clearly a raging asshsole. Awesome, awesome story, well-worth the afternoon.
Rewind (Dom/Brian)
--> An AU of the famous last race from the first movie, where instead of giving Dom the keys, Brian runs with him. I liked this a lot because it was a good look at just how good of a criminal a cop could really be if he put his mind to it, and I always like stories that give Brian a chance to be competend and clever because, uh, that was not exactly the impression I got from that movie. The pacing was a little odd in the second half, slow in places and skipping ahead in others, but in the end it actually worked for me. Good stuff.
White COllar
Somewhere I Have Never Travelled (Neal/Peter, hint of Neal/Peter/Elizabeth)
--> Mmm, a really awesome clever bit of AU. Peter went corporate instead of Fed, and he still ends up catching Neal, only this time he puts a bit of a personal spin on hanging onto him. I loved the way it played out, and especially liked the way it dealt with Kate and Mozzie, showing that the perfect trio canon!Neal remembers wasn't necessarily so perfect (though Mozzie is, obviously, perfect just as he is) and how it didn't flinch from Neal's ideas of fidelity and where they are and aren't flexible. Plus the epilogue was note-perfect, because I can't bear the idea of any version of Peter without Elizabeth.
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