Favourite H/C moments in Fic - no 5
Another week, another h/c button with rec(s)
I am not a fan of amnesia fic. When its done well, it can really add depth and drama to a fic. However, as its not really one of my buttons, I thought I'd explore a broader button which is: Hero versus the world. This is a very very broad button but can be drilled down into a few key highlights.
Years ago, I read Louis Lamour's Last of the Breed (one of his few non-Western books) and it rung a note in my adolescent soul - the hero, alone and in peril, overcomes challenges both great and small to suceed where few (or none) would expect him to do so. As a result, these type of stories (fanfic and other) continue to strike a chord with me.
The stories often (but not always) involve the hero trying to survive against the odds, be in nature (and extreme conditions), enemies hunting him, or strange alien worlds/countries/cities. Or a combination of all three. Dependent on the fandom, the hero isn't always entirely alone in his struggle but tends to be either through seperation or anmesia (hence the mention above). And those tend to be the amnesia fics I like.
One of my all time favourites fics with this type of h/c (button) is sholio's Running on Empty. Sheppard (and McKay) are trapped on a world and are being hunted by Wraith (after being turned into Runners). Shep has amnesia and is trying to figure everything out (who he is etc) and survive so we get a great combination of hero fighting to survive but also to remember. A section I love for the snapshot it is into this great fic is quoted below:
The trees became more sparse and open, until he emerged on a bare, stony ridge and the valley spread out before him, an inky pool of night. The mountain peaks were discernible by faint light -- starlight and the light of the long-set suns -- glimmering from the snow on their upper peaks. Alpenglow. It was a weird, ghostly effect. Tearing his eyes away from the silver brows of the mountains, Sheppard located the river's twisting silver ribbon in the valley. He'd strayed quite far off his original course, and still couldn't identify exactly where the ship had come down, but at least he knew which way he was headed.
A shrill, ululating scream from the mountains behind him made him jump and spin around, gun at the ready. The scream trailed away into a low sound like a cough, then repeated itself. It was not remotely human, nor did it sound like anything he'd heard from the Wraith. Some kind of local animal, then. Perhaps a predator. Standing still on the ridge, Sheppard became aware that the night around him was not at all silent, but filled with rustlings and occasional small cries as the unseen wildlife of this world conducted their nightly affairs. It exhilarated him.
Throwing his head back, he looked up at a spectacular panorama of stars, glittering in clusters and sweeping constellations. He had rarely seen stars brighter than this, and only then from outer space -- memories spun in fragments through his mind, crystal-sharp memories of stars seemingly close enough to touch, separated from him by nothing more than a thin sheet of glass or plastic. And he ... he slipped among the stars in a spaceship, his ship, guiding it with delicate touches of hand and mind -- and he turned, laughing, to say something to the person in the seat next to him, who also turned to meet his gaze ... and --
-- and something dark darted across one of the brighter constellations. Sheppard flinched, realizing that it had been mere inches from his nose: some kind of small, batlike creature. Others appeared and vanished in the darkness about him. Drawing a deep breath, he reluctantly shook off the memory and the accompanying sense of warmth and peace that had descended upon him. In a weird, probably quite messed-up way, he liked it here on this wild world, pitting himself against nature and Wraith -- but in that memory he'd been ...
Home.
And he intended to get back to it.
I love that image, Shep standing in a midnight forest taking in the world around him. Sigh, the whole story is fantastic and brought me to tears near the end :)
I have a selection of h/c fic below that cover this broad button. SGA fic tends to go more towards man alone versus elements and wraith while SPN fic leans more towards AUs and amnesia to achieve the same effect. However, the same ideas are explored in stories were Shep is seperated from his team and needs to survive on his own, or where Dean is isolated in the midst of Sam's friends and is trying to find a path between them.
Why do I love these stories so much? Well, part of it is the opportunity for writers to explore the heroism and endurance of our favourite characters. We get to 'see' their inner wells of endurance and strength, being pushed to the limits, against situations and circumstances that are either extreme or severe. But there is more to it that just that (for me). Its the hero being on his/her own. Removed from the support and friendship they have come to know and rely on. The fics tend have to h/c built in but the focus is more on the external plot than just the h/c (which can be quite delicious).
So, here is the rest of the list:
Where the Ways Divide by vain_glorious (SGA) - Sheppard-Runner AU
Red by big_pink (SPN) - Dean vs the Big Bad Wolf (EPIC)
Hunting Parties by Victoria Custer (SGA) - Shep injured and alone on a desert world
In Reverse by Sodakey (SPN) - Dean and Sam meet up with Sam's Stanford friends (and some old ghosts)
A Foreign Country by casspeach (SPN) - Dean gets hurt (and amnesia) and starts a new life
Irreplaceable by kashkow (SGA) - AU ending for Irresistable
Born in the Barrens by Elidon Rhymer (SGA) - AU Shep is a slave
Possession by coolbreeze (SGA) - AU Sateda, Shep is seperated from his team
Land's End by Janissa (SPN) - Dean (pre-series) go to Alaska to go crab fishing
I am not a fan of amnesia fic. When its done well, it can really add depth and drama to a fic. However, as its not really one of my buttons, I thought I'd explore a broader button which is: Hero versus the world. This is a very very broad button but can be drilled down into a few key highlights.
Years ago, I read Louis Lamour's Last of the Breed (one of his few non-Western books) and it rung a note in my adolescent soul - the hero, alone and in peril, overcomes challenges both great and small to suceed where few (or none) would expect him to do so. As a result, these type of stories (fanfic and other) continue to strike a chord with me.
The stories often (but not always) involve the hero trying to survive against the odds, be in nature (and extreme conditions), enemies hunting him, or strange alien worlds/countries/cities. Or a combination of all three. Dependent on the fandom, the hero isn't always entirely alone in his struggle but tends to be either through seperation or anmesia (hence the mention above). And those tend to be the amnesia fics I like.
One of my all time favourites fics with this type of h/c (button) is sholio's Running on Empty. Sheppard (and McKay) are trapped on a world and are being hunted by Wraith (after being turned into Runners). Shep has amnesia and is trying to figure everything out (who he is etc) and survive so we get a great combination of hero fighting to survive but also to remember. A section I love for the snapshot it is into this great fic is quoted below:
The trees became more sparse and open, until he emerged on a bare, stony ridge and the valley spread out before him, an inky pool of night. The mountain peaks were discernible by faint light -- starlight and the light of the long-set suns -- glimmering from the snow on their upper peaks. Alpenglow. It was a weird, ghostly effect. Tearing his eyes away from the silver brows of the mountains, Sheppard located the river's twisting silver ribbon in the valley. He'd strayed quite far off his original course, and still couldn't identify exactly where the ship had come down, but at least he knew which way he was headed.
A shrill, ululating scream from the mountains behind him made him jump and spin around, gun at the ready. The scream trailed away into a low sound like a cough, then repeated itself. It was not remotely human, nor did it sound like anything he'd heard from the Wraith. Some kind of local animal, then. Perhaps a predator. Standing still on the ridge, Sheppard became aware that the night around him was not at all silent, but filled with rustlings and occasional small cries as the unseen wildlife of this world conducted their nightly affairs. It exhilarated him.
Throwing his head back, he looked up at a spectacular panorama of stars, glittering in clusters and sweeping constellations. He had rarely seen stars brighter than this, and only then from outer space -- memories spun in fragments through his mind, crystal-sharp memories of stars seemingly close enough to touch, separated from him by nothing more than a thin sheet of glass or plastic. And he ... he slipped among the stars in a spaceship, his ship, guiding it with delicate touches of hand and mind -- and he turned, laughing, to say something to the person in the seat next to him, who also turned to meet his gaze ... and --
-- and something dark darted across one of the brighter constellations. Sheppard flinched, realizing that it had been mere inches from his nose: some kind of small, batlike creature. Others appeared and vanished in the darkness about him. Drawing a deep breath, he reluctantly shook off the memory and the accompanying sense of warmth and peace that had descended upon him. In a weird, probably quite messed-up way, he liked it here on this wild world, pitting himself against nature and Wraith -- but in that memory he'd been ...
Home.
And he intended to get back to it.
I love that image, Shep standing in a midnight forest taking in the world around him. Sigh, the whole story is fantastic and brought me to tears near the end :)
I have a selection of h/c fic below that cover this broad button. SGA fic tends to go more towards man alone versus elements and wraith while SPN fic leans more towards AUs and amnesia to achieve the same effect. However, the same ideas are explored in stories were Shep is seperated from his team and needs to survive on his own, or where Dean is isolated in the midst of Sam's friends and is trying to find a path between them.
Why do I love these stories so much? Well, part of it is the opportunity for writers to explore the heroism and endurance of our favourite characters. We get to 'see' their inner wells of endurance and strength, being pushed to the limits, against situations and circumstances that are either extreme or severe. But there is more to it that just that (for me). Its the hero being on his/her own. Removed from the support and friendship they have come to know and rely on. The fics tend have to h/c built in but the focus is more on the external plot than just the h/c (which can be quite delicious).
So, here is the rest of the list:
Where the Ways Divide by vain_glorious (SGA) - Sheppard-Runner AU
Red by big_pink (SPN) - Dean vs the Big Bad Wolf (EPIC)
Hunting Parties by Victoria Custer (SGA) - Shep injured and alone on a desert world
In Reverse by Sodakey (SPN) - Dean and Sam meet up with Sam's Stanford friends (and some old ghosts)
A Foreign Country by casspeach (SPN) - Dean gets hurt (and amnesia) and starts a new life
Irreplaceable by kashkow (SGA) - AU ending for Irresistable
Born in the Barrens by Elidon Rhymer (SGA) - AU Shep is a slave
Possession by coolbreeze (SGA) - AU Sateda, Shep is seperated from his team
Land's End by Janissa (SPN) - Dean (pre-series) go to Alaska to go crab fishing