Recs from September - October
Alias:
Sin For Me by Jinni. Sarkney, Alias. PWP that literally leaves you wanting more.
Harry Potter:
DH Illustration by selija. Harry/Draco. Absolutely gorgeous coloring and facial expressions. (Leaving the link up in the hopes the deleted journal is restored.)
A Slytherin in Gryffindor's Clothing by mahaliem. Harry/Draco. OMG, this was absolutely *adorable*. I can't believe I haven't read this before. Draco crosses over into another world (uh, so to speak) wherein he's a Gryffindor and his BFFs are Granger and Weasley. The *horror*. And Potter's a bloody Slytherin!
Granger, however, was getting suspicious.
The girl knew something was going on, but couldn't quite figure it out. Lately, she'd taken to testing him, asking him what he would do in certain situations.
"Suppose you see a first-year crying. What would you do?" Hermione asked.
Draco squashed the automatic response of 'laugh and make note that whichever abuse I wrought worked splendidly' to reply instead with "Which house?"
"Does it matter?" She arched an eyebrow as she watched him closely.
Oops. "Of course not," he answered quickly. "But I would need to know where to take the sweet child after I picked it up and cradled it like a babe in my arms."
Both of Hermione's eyebrows shot up.
Ouroboros by tkp. HP, post-DH fic. Or, why the epilogue was creepy.
Friend Like Me by ladyvader. It came up recently that I never actually put this on my recs page, despite it being one of my favorite HP fics of all time. Crazily engrossing and fascinating and heartbreaking and okay, basically it's a Harry-is-sorted-into-Slytherin-fic which is...happymaking. Don't let the POV or some of the prose selections throw you off, trust me - this is gold.
Summary: Draco's rendition of the Love story that never was.
The Familiar by resonant8. Harry/Snape. Harry gets turned into a frog and...go! This is yet another one of those well-known stories that I never managed to put on my recs page. I feel so inferior!
The Scholomance Series: A Rare Descent by astolat. All of the story links are at the top. To preface, I still have not read DH. Or, um, HBP. I have issues with things ending and this is a vulnerable year for me, okay? THAT SAID, I was very well aware of what was going on in HP fandom while DH was still coming out, and I was feeling really traumatized by it myself - HP is a fandom very near and dear to my heart, for various reasons that um, only make sense in my head.
...anyway. I'm very off track. The point is, this came out right at a moment where I really, really needed to read something powerful that fit in with how things should go in the books in my head, and I was wiggling in my seat in glee all through this. It was started years ago and frankly, I never expected it to finish, and then? Then it did. The Eleventh Doorkeeper is especially inspired.
Heroes/X-Men:
(WiP): Vermin by isagel - Mohinder/Sylar, Mulder/Krycek
I literally was making *sounds* reading this. Sounds in the squealing family. Post "How To Stop An Exploding Man", Alex finds Sylar and informs him that a) I was taking pictures of you when you were Zane and with Mohinder, b) Never showed those to these nasty guys I "work" for so they will not know what the hell you are should you show up and c) oh, those nasty guys have your guy and they're going to fuck him up.
Of course, Sylar's a little...proprietary. Shenanigans are about to ensue. I BOUNCE A LOT.
“And why should any of this interest me?”
Alex takes a step forward, pushing into his personal space. When he speaks, his words dissolve in puffs of mist, his breath frozen by the arctic chill in the room.
“Because he’s going to say no, Sylar. He has a conscience and a backbone, and what they want him to get involved with is beyond vile. He’s going to say no, and they’re going to try and force him. I don’t have to tell you what that means.”
It's kind of ridiculous how invested I am in that story.
Distractions by squills. Sylar/Mohinder. I so enjoyed the Sylar POV in this.
Gravity by cerebel - Sylar/Mohinder. WOW. Hands down, fantastic story. Link goes to the series tag; just scroll down. This is seriously some wildly fantastic sex and I am...hard to impress on the sex front. (*Fannishly*! Come on! We've read it all sometimes, it seems like.) This? This was *new*. And there was much guh-ing and happy squeaks in Madelyn-land.
Stolen Virtues of Lesser Men. Sylar/Mohinder. Five Years Gone Sylar POV.
He hates the beach, burns at even the slightest hint of sun, but these are the sacrifices we make for those we love.
Face In The Crowd by saestina. Claire, Heroes. Wow. This story was just...beautiful. Claire finds out she's not aging. She feels her father’s hands on her shoulders, guiding her up out of her chair and steering her back to their car, but she’s numb to the real world, seeing instead the death of a hundred thousand dreams play out before her eyes.
And This Too Shall (Not) Pass by hackthis. Peter/Nathan, Heroes. Really enjoyed this, and then totally *loved* the ending. That was his issue, these were his demons, and so, he held his peace, because he could wait this out.
What You Wish For by cerebel. Matt Parkman, Mohinder/Sylar, Heroes. Awesome Matt POV.
“I must say, sir,” he manages, “you’ve changed in the past few months.”
Nathan raises an eyebrow. “Is that good or bad?” he asks.
Matt pauses, for a beat. Bad, of course, is the first thought that comes to mind. An imposter, instead of the President, that’s bad.
…and yet, Matt hears the name ‘Linderman’ a lot less around the White House, these days. Best to be circumspect, in any case.
Tomorrow Never Came by mneiai. Sylar/Mohinder, Heroes. Because I have a black, black heart, I really loved that last line. Oh Mohinder. You so are.
LJ Smith:
Kiss It Better by windiain - The Forbidden Game by LJ Smith is one of my favorite YA books and it still stuns me that the fandom is so...uh, quiet. Julian/Jenny set in stone my being drawn to certain pairing dynamics.
Smallville:
Still Two Fools by kantayra - Clark/Lex
Hilarious crack-fic in which Mercy and Clark forge an unholy alliance in order to prevent Lex from marrying his...ninth homicidal wife.
“He…” A slight tremble sounded in Mercy’s voice, and if that wasn’t a sign the world was ending, Clark didn’t know what was. “He…gave me the day off.”
Fake Palindromes by teot - Clark/Lex
Chock full of sex, sex, more sex and oh, yes, blackmail and bets. Pleasing!
Stargate: Atlantis:
There's an inherent (yet understandable) tendency to first say 'genderbending' and then immediately follow it with the qualifier to 'make it okay', so to speak, of 'crackfic'. And most of the times it is a pretty valid assessment! Not so with Story of a Girl by seperis. In which John's never been a man, and somehow, he's...better off for it, in a lot of ways. Thinky cool fic.
Star Trek (TOS and TNG):
What I Am To You by cimorene111 - Kirk/Spock. Post ST:III fic; You seem perfectly calm as you say, "How long have we been lovers?" And I am certain I have heard you correctly, even as I struggle not to allow my astonishment to show on my face.
In Check by K'Sal - Kirk/Spock.
"Blood sugar!" The words were accompanied by a blaze of clearly identifiable human triumph. "Low blood sugar! If I had eaten a pound of steak for dinner instead of three lettuce leaves and an ounce of chicken I'd have figured this out an hour ago!"
The Word Withheld by J S Cavalcante. Kirk/Spock. In which Spock leaves out the third definition of t'hy'la and shenanigans ensue.
Reality by Tiggy Malvern. It is *hard* to find good Picard/Q. I suffered greatly on the road to this fic. The depth of his fury at Q surprised him somewhat until he realised that it wasn't just the choice Q had given him that he raged against. It was Q himself. After all these months of absence, Q had returned to do *this* to him: to taunt him, to weaken him, to force him to make the decision that Q knew he didn't want. It was a deliberate manipulation and it felt strangely like betrayal.
Supernatural:
Paper Weight by vaznetti. I've never actually read a story with a POV outside of Sam or Dean in SPN fandom. At least, not one that I'm recalling just now. Neat story:
"We need you," Henriksen says. "You can help us find him."
The table is full of bodies: stabbed, burned, strangled, ripped apart. A dizzying range of victims, scenes, crimes. None of it makes sense. "OK," Kathleen says. "I mean, yes, of course. I'll do it."
But of course, that goes to shit.
Veronica Mars:
5 Ways Lilly Kane Never Died by sadiekate. Veronica Mars. Very, very cool story.
Sin For Me by Jinni. Sarkney, Alias. PWP that literally leaves you wanting more.
Harry Potter:
DH Illustration by selija. Harry/Draco. Absolutely gorgeous coloring and facial expressions. (Leaving the link up in the hopes the deleted journal is restored.)
A Slytherin in Gryffindor's Clothing by mahaliem. Harry/Draco. OMG, this was absolutely *adorable*. I can't believe I haven't read this before. Draco crosses over into another world (uh, so to speak) wherein he's a Gryffindor and his BFFs are Granger and Weasley. The *horror*. And Potter's a bloody Slytherin!
Granger, however, was getting suspicious.
The girl knew something was going on, but couldn't quite figure it out. Lately, she'd taken to testing him, asking him what he would do in certain situations.
"Suppose you see a first-year crying. What would you do?" Hermione asked.
Draco squashed the automatic response of 'laugh and make note that whichever abuse I wrought worked splendidly' to reply instead with "Which house?"
"Does it matter?" She arched an eyebrow as she watched him closely.
Oops. "Of course not," he answered quickly. "But I would need to know where to take the sweet child after I picked it up and cradled it like a babe in my arms."
Both of Hermione's eyebrows shot up.
Ouroboros by tkp. HP, post-DH fic. Or, why the epilogue was creepy.
Friend Like Me by ladyvader. It came up recently that I never actually put this on my recs page, despite it being one of my favorite HP fics of all time. Crazily engrossing and fascinating and heartbreaking and okay, basically it's a Harry-is-sorted-into-Slytherin-fic which is...happymaking. Don't let the POV or some of the prose selections throw you off, trust me - this is gold.
Summary: Draco's rendition of the Love story that never was.
The Familiar by resonant8. Harry/Snape. Harry gets turned into a frog and...go! This is yet another one of those well-known stories that I never managed to put on my recs page. I feel so inferior!
The Scholomance Series: A Rare Descent by astolat. All of the story links are at the top. To preface, I still have not read DH. Or, um, HBP. I have issues with things ending and this is a vulnerable year for me, okay? THAT SAID, I was very well aware of what was going on in HP fandom while DH was still coming out, and I was feeling really traumatized by it myself - HP is a fandom very near and dear to my heart, for various reasons that um, only make sense in my head.
...anyway. I'm very off track. The point is, this came out right at a moment where I really, really needed to read something powerful that fit in with how things should go in the books in my head, and I was wiggling in my seat in glee all through this. It was started years ago and frankly, I never expected it to finish, and then? Then it did. The Eleventh Doorkeeper is especially inspired.
Heroes/X-Men:
(WiP): Vermin by isagel - Mohinder/Sylar, Mulder/Krycek
I literally was making *sounds* reading this. Sounds in the squealing family. Post "How To Stop An Exploding Man", Alex finds Sylar and informs him that a) I was taking pictures of you when you were Zane and with Mohinder, b) Never showed those to these nasty guys I "work" for so they will not know what the hell you are should you show up and c) oh, those nasty guys have your guy and they're going to fuck him up.
Of course, Sylar's a little...proprietary. Shenanigans are about to ensue. I BOUNCE A LOT.
“And why should any of this interest me?”
Alex takes a step forward, pushing into his personal space. When he speaks, his words dissolve in puffs of mist, his breath frozen by the arctic chill in the room.
“Because he’s going to say no, Sylar. He has a conscience and a backbone, and what they want him to get involved with is beyond vile. He’s going to say no, and they’re going to try and force him. I don’t have to tell you what that means.”
It's kind of ridiculous how invested I am in that story.
Distractions by squills. Sylar/Mohinder. I so enjoyed the Sylar POV in this.
Gravity by cerebel - Sylar/Mohinder. WOW. Hands down, fantastic story. Link goes to the series tag; just scroll down. This is seriously some wildly fantastic sex and I am...hard to impress on the sex front. (*Fannishly*! Come on! We've read it all sometimes, it seems like.) This? This was *new*. And there was much guh-ing and happy squeaks in Madelyn-land.
Stolen Virtues of Lesser Men. Sylar/Mohinder. Five Years Gone Sylar POV.
He hates the beach, burns at even the slightest hint of sun, but these are the sacrifices we make for those we love.
Face In The Crowd by saestina. Claire, Heroes. Wow. This story was just...beautiful. Claire finds out she's not aging. She feels her father’s hands on her shoulders, guiding her up out of her chair and steering her back to their car, but she’s numb to the real world, seeing instead the death of a hundred thousand dreams play out before her eyes.
And This Too Shall (Not) Pass by hackthis. Peter/Nathan, Heroes. Really enjoyed this, and then totally *loved* the ending. That was his issue, these were his demons, and so, he held his peace, because he could wait this out.
What You Wish For by cerebel. Matt Parkman, Mohinder/Sylar, Heroes. Awesome Matt POV.
“I must say, sir,” he manages, “you’ve changed in the past few months.”
Nathan raises an eyebrow. “Is that good or bad?” he asks.
Matt pauses, for a beat. Bad, of course, is the first thought that comes to mind. An imposter, instead of the President, that’s bad.
…and yet, Matt hears the name ‘Linderman’ a lot less around the White House, these days. Best to be circumspect, in any case.
Tomorrow Never Came by mneiai. Sylar/Mohinder, Heroes. Because I have a black, black heart, I really loved that last line. Oh Mohinder. You so are.
LJ Smith:
Kiss It Better by windiain - The Forbidden Game by LJ Smith is one of my favorite YA books and it still stuns me that the fandom is so...uh, quiet. Julian/Jenny set in stone my being drawn to certain pairing dynamics.
Smallville:
Still Two Fools by kantayra - Clark/Lex
Hilarious crack-fic in which Mercy and Clark forge an unholy alliance in order to prevent Lex from marrying his...ninth homicidal wife.
“He…” A slight tremble sounded in Mercy’s voice, and if that wasn’t a sign the world was ending, Clark didn’t know what was. “He…gave me the day off.”
Fake Palindromes by teot - Clark/Lex
Chock full of sex, sex, more sex and oh, yes, blackmail and bets. Pleasing!
Stargate: Atlantis:
There's an inherent (yet understandable) tendency to first say 'genderbending' and then immediately follow it with the qualifier to 'make it okay', so to speak, of 'crackfic'. And most of the times it is a pretty valid assessment! Not so with Story of a Girl by seperis. In which John's never been a man, and somehow, he's...better off for it, in a lot of ways. Thinky cool fic.
Star Trek (TOS and TNG):
What I Am To You by cimorene111 - Kirk/Spock. Post ST:III fic; You seem perfectly calm as you say, "How long have we been lovers?" And I am certain I have heard you correctly, even as I struggle not to allow my astonishment to show on my face.
In Check by K'Sal - Kirk/Spock.
"Blood sugar!" The words were accompanied by a blaze of clearly identifiable human triumph. "Low blood sugar! If I had eaten a pound of steak for dinner instead of three lettuce leaves and an ounce of chicken I'd have figured this out an hour ago!"
The Word Withheld by J S Cavalcante. Kirk/Spock. In which Spock leaves out the third definition of t'hy'la and shenanigans ensue.
Reality by Tiggy Malvern. It is *hard* to find good Picard/Q. I suffered greatly on the road to this fic. The depth of his fury at Q surprised him somewhat until he realised that it wasn't just the choice Q had given him that he raged against. It was Q himself. After all these months of absence, Q had returned to do *this* to him: to taunt him, to weaken him, to force him to make the decision that Q knew he didn't want. It was a deliberate manipulation and it felt strangely like betrayal.
Supernatural:
Paper Weight by vaznetti. I've never actually read a story with a POV outside of Sam or Dean in SPN fandom. At least, not one that I'm recalling just now. Neat story:
"We need you," Henriksen says. "You can help us find him."
The table is full of bodies: stabbed, burned, strangled, ripped apart. A dizzying range of victims, scenes, crimes. None of it makes sense. "OK," Kathleen says. "I mean, yes, of course. I'll do it."
But of course, that goes to shit.
Veronica Mars:
5 Ways Lilly Kane Never Died by sadiekate. Veronica Mars. Very, very cool story.