[ Bleach, Hanakimi, House, LOVELESS, One Piece, SGA, Weiss Kreuz, Yamimatsu, X-Men ]
Notes/Babbling: Really, really pretty Ichigo/Orihime wallpapers and I'm wondering--why don't people do icon/graphics recommending? I think it'd be cool.
Series:
Hanazakari no Kimitachi e - 1 Fanfic
House - 1 Fanfic
House/Weiss Kreuz - 1 Fanfic
LOVELESS - 1 Fanfic
One Piece - 2 Fanfics
One Piece/Bleach - 1 Fanfic
Stargate: Atlantis - 5 Fanfics
Yami no Matsuei - 1 Fanfic
X-Men - 1 Fanfic
- Hanazakari no Kimitachi e - Telling Stories by Serilda - I could not stop grinning the entire way through this fic, I could not stop sparkling the entire way through this fic. I adore her take on the characters and the way she writes, the way her Mizuki is the cutest thing ever and I still melt into a ball of goo at the way she wished Umeda a happy birthday. I loved the balance between Umeda being cranky and being able to tell there was more underneath, the way Akiha was actually pretty restrained while still being Akiha. But mostly. Oh, mostly, I enjoyed the incredible tension just before their kiss, the way I could feel the chemistry between them. They didn't even have to be touching and there was that electric current between them, that feel of something tightening and pulling, and asdflkadfl;kajsdf holy crap what a lovely, lovely fic for Sensei's birthday. HARTS as usual. (Akiha/Umeda.)
- House/Weiss Kreuz - Night Operation by toscas_kiss - Okay, seriously. Weiss Kreuz and House should not blend this seamlessly. If it'd been just about any other author, I may not have given it a shot, but I've always really liked the author's WK fic, especially her take on Crawford/Schuldich, so what the hell, I thought. This story was awesome pretty much from the word go, the brilliant characterization of both House and Crawford as seen through House's eyes. The way it doesn't spell out the canon for you, you have to know what's going on. Right down to the fabulous ending. Just. Wow. It's hard to express in words how much I loved this. (Nothing I'm going to count for pairings.)
- House - Residency Evil by akire - I believe I was skimming recs posts and wandered through here (♥) and picked up the link for this fic. And then. House plus zombies. This shouldn't work as well as it does. Yet somehow I find it to be absolutely awesome in its own way. If you were going to meld the House cast with a zombie movie, it would go pretty much exactly like this, right down to the dialogue and Cuddy with a shotgun. Cuddy with a shotgun. That was way hotter than it had any right to be. And yet. But neither does the fic ever lose its sense of humor, so you wind up with this crazy little story that's not parody but not drama, instead it's just this bit of awesome that's a great read right about Halloween. The dialogue alone is worth the read, omg. (No warnings/pairings.)
- LOVELESS - Life Cycle of the Butterfly by Circe - There is something about the way this author writes that captures the LOVELESS series so very nicely, a certain way to the dialogue and the imagery and... something that makes me hear the music and picture Yun Kouga's beautiful artwork. The use of spells in the story is also impressive, I felt like the author knew the world well enough to move around with it and... honestly? My favorite part was the resolution with Seimei. The beautiful wrap-up to killing his brother's killer and what exactly that meant. The way the bond between Ritsuka and Soubi was strengthened and tested, the way everything wound together, even the recurring butterfly theme. Lovely. (Soubi/Ritsuka, somewhere around NC-17.)
- One Piece - Aftermaths: Zoro - Luffy - Sanji - Chopper by Maldoror - I'm linking these together because they're short enough that I feel better this way and because they're all a part of a theme--short ficlets set two weeks after the characters' defining 'events'. And good lord what a fabulous, fabulous idea and execution! They're little scenes that I can see slipping in between the pages of canon, little ideas that are just gems for what they say about the hope and resiliancy of the characters and the OP world as a whole. I honestly can't pick a favorite--every time I read the ending of the Chopper one (omg omg omg why isn't there more of Chopper learning under Kureha?), I think about how brilliant the Zoro one was, how adorable the Luffy one was, or how perfect the Sanji one was. Each one shows an insight or an aspect of the character, shows how they picked themselves up and kept going, stronger than before, because that's what these characters are. Just. Fabulous. (No warnings/pairings.)
- One Piece - The Annoying Thing About Happy Endings... by Maldoror - I was intrigued by the author writing One Piece genfic (which doesn't get nearly enough love, of course), but then she started sliding towards ZoSan? Omg, of course I was going to read and gush at some point. ♥ It's just. It's not really a serious fic, but it's not a parody fic either, it's that really great space between where it's funny and charming and totally OP-ish and just. Just. Just. Omg. This is a great future for the characters, something that I would love to see and something that would be good for them and there's that line when the kid is introduced and I literally had to turn away from the screen and laugh out loud for a good thirty seconds. The dialogue in this fic is just fabulous, especially any time Zeff or Sanji opened their mouths, I could absolutely hear their voices speaking. And I was totally over the moon for the mentions of Luffy and Nami. This was a great fic set after the characters have reached their dreams, a story that feels like it doesn't take anything away from having reached them so young or the sense never-ending adventure of a series like One Piece. (Zoro/Sanji, some Luffy/Nami mentioned.)
- One Piece/Bleach - Thirteen Going on Fourteen by Celeste - Sanji sighed to himself as he heard the sound of weapons being drawn. The chef wondered rather philosophically, why dying was necessary if the parts that came afterwards were exactly the same as the ones you’d been through when you were alive. I sort of knew I wanted a OP/Bleach crossover, but I didn't know how badly I wanted it or how beautiful Zoro and Sanji in the afterlife would be until I read this. It's just. It's just. The author so beautifully captures the whole... so strong it's stupid attitude of both series that makes this crossover work. That's the beautiful thing about the OP characters in Soul Society, that they'd be ridiculously, idiotically strong and I would laugh the entire way through it because they wouldn't stop bitching at each for a minute. The other thing I love about this story is that it captures the... it's not quite crude dialogue (though, there is a lot of swearing), but there's a very rough quality to these characters and it's great for both Bleach and OP that further contributes to how much it makes the fic work. It's just. A crossover that works, omg. After the Naruto/Hunter x Hunter crossover Celeste did, I'm ready to call her Queen of the JUMP Crossovers now. XD (No real warnings/pairings.)
- Stargate: Atlantis - Paternal Instinct by qwirky - I feel sort of horrible about this, but I... I... I have a babyfic kink with Ronon/Teyla. Mostly because the idea of Ronon with a kid is sort of insanely hilarious, even if I know I shouldn't like babyfic quite so much. But this fic came along at the right time to blow the seedling of want into a full-blown kink and it's just... it starts out with John carrying a baby around the lab and going, "Oh, crap." when the baby might have touched something and the baby's okay but everything after is hilarious. The conversation with Teyla! The ending! I still crack up at the ending. The fic is so adorably cute and I love it so much because I couldn't stop grinning the entire time and what is it about this series that makes me want babyfic just like this? God knows. But this was fun and from now on I WILL BE SHAMLESS in my love for the SGA babyfic! (Ronon/Teyla, some John/Elizabeth.)
- Stargate: Atlantis - Satedan Parenting 101 by miriel - Serilda pointed this one out to me because she's lovely and knew I wanted pretty much any and all Ronon/Teyla fic links. Also, I have that babyfic kink I refuse to be ashamed of. And, awww, both hilarious and sort of adorable--because, honestly, who doesn't think Ronon walking into a meeting with a baby strapped to his back isn't the funniest thing ever? I don't want to meet that person. Anyway, the fic is written wonderfully, the prose is lovely and there's a sense of these people being from a different culture--not just in the way people keeping wondering why Ronon's taking care of the kid the way he is, but in the way that it's simply different from what we know. It's all-around just a good, solid fic and I adore the way the Ronon/Teyla relationship was written in it. (Ronon/Teyla.)
- Stargate: Atlantis - Reply to Sender by qwirky - This was just a short, cute little thing that I liked. I have to admit, the idea of e-mail spam on Atlantis is kinda funny and there were one or two lines that put a smile on my face while reading, which is about all I ask. (Irritated!John is kinda lots of fun, too.) Then add in some John/Elizabeth and I was happy to add this fic to the pile of SGA fic I wanted to read tonight. :D (Sheppard/Weir.)
- Stargate: Atlantis - Veracity by Little Red - [ part 01 - part 02 ] - There are some authors in fandom that are just good, it's not about appealing to the squeeing fangirl in me (not that that part wasn't quite present and accounted for, mind), but about structuring a well-told story, about rock-solid, even sparkling, characterization, about hitting all the notes it was going for without hammering them into the reader's head. The writing of this story is fabulous, all the way around, all those little things that make up a hurt/comfort story in the way that makes me remember why I loved this genre so much in the first place. I mean, I was almost hesitant to read this fic, I thought h/c might be the entirely wrong tone for Sheppard/Weir, it might be trying to force something I wasn't sure I was ready for yet, since I'm still more on the UST side of the fence than the RST one.
But this story is gorgeously written, the kind that makes me ache for John in the aftermath of being tortured at the enemies' hands for four days, it makes me ache for Elizabeth trying to deal with it, trying to help him, trying to support him, trying not to push him too hard, trying to deal with her own worries and loneliness while he's so distant from her. The author didn't push too hard on making it a dramatic story, it was almost a quiet story, which made the effect so much more haunting. The established relationship between the characters worked so well here, woven into the story, important to it, rather than just being tacked on for drama's sake.
Overall, it was one of those stories that I was wary about reading ahead of time, but it quickly swept me up into the writing and wouldn't let me go for the whole ride. It's not an epic, but it's a lengthy story that takes exactly the amount of time it needs. Even the R-rated scenes were gorgeous! This is the kind of John/Elizabeth story I didn't know I wanted out of the SGA fandom, I didn't know I'd want something this serious until I'd read it and wish I could read a hundred more just like it. (Sheppard/Weir.)
- Stargate: Atlantis - A Difference of Opinion by ALC Punk! - I've been developing a taste for John/Elizabeth smut since I've been slowly sliding closer and closer to liking RST (vs UST) with the pairing. So this lovely little gem came along at just the right time--partly about the smut (okay, mostly about the pretty, pretty smut ♥) and partly about the dynamic between them, how they can both be more than a little stubborn. Resolutely sticking to their side, refusing to give an inch even as the other turns their ministrations up a notch, makes it even hotter. Loved this. <3 (Sheppard/Weir, NC-17-ish.)
- Yami no Matsuei - Cutting Edge by Serilda - Omg, squee. The image of Watari getting involved with Halloween and what he was making in this fic were just so damn squee-worthy without being too cutesy. That's what I like about Serilda's take on the couple (and why she'll always been queen of the pairing), that I can just see these events, I giggle or grin like an idiot the entire way through, and it's not too over the top. Instead it's cute and clever and, god, I can't write a decent rec of this one without spoiling it. Just. Watari is Watari and Tatsumi is Tatsumi and it was Halloween fic and I adored it. ♥ (Tatsumi/Watari.)
- X-Men - Paradox Law by Valerie Jones - [Note: This is the follow-up story to Betrayal, so you'll be very confused if you haven't read that one. This rec will also contain spoilers for "Betrayal", so do not read it until you've read the previous fic. Seriously.] As I mentioned in the rec for that fic, this is the set of stories (Betrayal, Paradox Law, and Game of Empires) that helped start me writing recs, that is still absolutely, positively my favorite fanfic ever. No matter how much I read, no fic manages to capture both my imagination and my heart like this author has. This is quite possibly my third read-through--and as I've mentioned numerous times, I'm not one who rereads much fic, there's too much stuff out there that I haven't read to waste time on the stories I already know. But by the time I reach the final chapter of this story, by the time I've gotten so engrossed in it yet again, there are tears in my eyes because it's such a moving story.
Sure, it helps that it focuses on my favorite things/characters and contains a lot of the kinks that I have weaknesses for. (Playing with the scope of Gambit's powers, the father/son issues with Xavier, the effects of Gambit's relationship with Rogue, etc.) But it's not just that, it's that the story is genuinely a good one. It's epic in scope, it's brilliantly plotted, and it's incredibly detailed at every point it needs to be. Knowing the ending, having read it twice before, each chapter is loaded with details that will come up again later, little clues along the way that are woven seamlessly into the narration so that you don't even notice them until you're rereading and going, "Oh...!" I love that the story goes through at least four seperate time-lines, each time so different and yet make sense in their own way, and the structuring of the story leaves me breathless every time. I love that by the time I finish "Paradox Law", I feel like I've been through the wringer, that each timeline was a lifetime ago.
It's still more than that, of course. The author also focuses this story on a set of four original characters that I tend to forget aren't from the books themselves. They make sense, they're so fully three-dimensional characters that I get caught up in them just as much as I do the actual X-Men. True, it helps that Remi is basically Gambit in another life, but he never lived the same life, he never went through anything of what Gambit did, Rem'aillon Neramani is not Gambit. So, to have the majority of the fic centered on him and to make it one of the most riveting reads ever? Such tremendous talent. Because he's not just a flat insert that jars against the world he's in, he's got his own motivations, his own personality, his own reasons for everything, his own flaws even. You can see Remy in him, but he's not Remy at the same time and even after all these years that, too, still takes my breath away.
The use of canon events also still takes my breath away. These stories were written several years ago, of course, but the sense she made of the mess of canon? The way the author wove together events, spiralled off others, made it all fit with the canon we actually saw in the books? Brilliant to the point that it sometimes affects my view of canon itself. It sometimes feels like canon just... lined up for the story like it was meant to happen. Or maybe it just feels that way to me because I have stars in my eyes. I freely admit that I'm biased as all hell on this story. But the sense of... the author being so familiar with the stories as they happened in canon, then what could very well happen if you changed just one thing and watched how it snowballed... it's fantastic.
It's fantastic to read Remi's interaction with the massively different timeline where the Shadow King ruled, where Rogue was a woman without hope, where Jean was devestated by loss, where Xavier was a man who had no ability left to dream, it's amazing how different yet how similiar these people are. Like they truly could have been those people in that lifetime. That one thing changed could lead to these circumstances. And by the time Remi's getting to that fourth timeline, when he's jumped back in time for the fourth time, you can feel his desperation and how close he is to his breaking point. When he has some small measure of peace to hold onto, you can feel the relief in him and it's so absolutely earned by the author. It's not cheap drama, everything the character goes through is earned by the story.
I'm not sure what else I can say about this story. Everything I say feels like it's not enough, it's not descriptive enough, it's not insightful enough, it's not a lot of things. I want this to be my final rec for this story, despite that I can go on at length about it and I'm sure I'll be settling in for my fourth read through in a few years from now. It's That Story for me. Gambit has always fascinated me. The lack of knowledge about his power, the hints we've gotten, the incredible psi-shields that were never explained, the lack of exploration on his ability to charge objects, not knowing who his family is, it all engaged me. I've always liked the idea that Remy was the third Summers brother and I probably always will, even after canon has closed that door. (His connection to Sinister is so intriguing though--!) But this story hits me even harder. It's brilliant from start to finish, truly doing the idea of Remy being the son of Charles Xavier and Lilandra justice. Hell, not simply "justice", it blows everything else I've read out of the water. Not just for the strength of it on a technical level, but because the story has a spirit that I've never bonded with so strongly.
And, shut up, I can be fangirly if I want to. This story was That Story for me. D:< (Implications of pairings, but nothing worth warning for.)
Series:
Hanazakari no Kimitachi e - 1 Fanfic
House - 1 Fanfic
House/Weiss Kreuz - 1 Fanfic
LOVELESS - 1 Fanfic
One Piece - 2 Fanfics
One Piece/Bleach - 1 Fanfic
Stargate: Atlantis - 5 Fanfics
Yami no Matsuei - 1 Fanfic
X-Men - 1 Fanfic
- Hanazakari no Kimitachi e - Telling Stories by Serilda - I could not stop grinning the entire way through this fic, I could not stop sparkling the entire way through this fic. I adore her take on the characters and the way she writes, the way her Mizuki is the cutest thing ever and I still melt into a ball of goo at the way she wished Umeda a happy birthday. I loved the balance between Umeda being cranky and being able to tell there was more underneath, the way Akiha was actually pretty restrained while still being Akiha. But mostly. Oh, mostly, I enjoyed the incredible tension just before their kiss, the way I could feel the chemistry between them. They didn't even have to be touching and there was that electric current between them, that feel of something tightening and pulling, and asdflkadfl;kajsdf holy crap what a lovely, lovely fic for Sensei's birthday. HARTS as usual. (Akiha/Umeda.)
- House/Weiss Kreuz - Night Operation by toscas_kiss - Okay, seriously. Weiss Kreuz and House should not blend this seamlessly. If it'd been just about any other author, I may not have given it a shot, but I've always really liked the author's WK fic, especially her take on Crawford/Schuldich, so what the hell, I thought. This story was awesome pretty much from the word go, the brilliant characterization of both House and Crawford as seen through House's eyes. The way it doesn't spell out the canon for you, you have to know what's going on. Right down to the fabulous ending. Just. Wow. It's hard to express in words how much I loved this. (Nothing I'm going to count for pairings.)
- House - Residency Evil by akire - I believe I was skimming recs posts and wandered through here (♥) and picked up the link for this fic. And then. House plus zombies. This shouldn't work as well as it does. Yet somehow I find it to be absolutely awesome in its own way. If you were going to meld the House cast with a zombie movie, it would go pretty much exactly like this, right down to the dialogue and Cuddy with a shotgun. Cuddy with a shotgun. That was way hotter than it had any right to be. And yet. But neither does the fic ever lose its sense of humor, so you wind up with this crazy little story that's not parody but not drama, instead it's just this bit of awesome that's a great read right about Halloween. The dialogue alone is worth the read, omg. (No warnings/pairings.)
- LOVELESS - Life Cycle of the Butterfly by Circe - There is something about the way this author writes that captures the LOVELESS series so very nicely, a certain way to the dialogue and the imagery and... something that makes me hear the music and picture Yun Kouga's beautiful artwork. The use of spells in the story is also impressive, I felt like the author knew the world well enough to move around with it and... honestly? My favorite part was the resolution with Seimei. The beautiful wrap-up to killing his brother's killer and what exactly that meant. The way the bond between Ritsuka and Soubi was strengthened and tested, the way everything wound together, even the recurring butterfly theme. Lovely. (Soubi/Ritsuka, somewhere around NC-17.)
- One Piece - Aftermaths: Zoro - Luffy - Sanji - Chopper by Maldoror - I'm linking these together because they're short enough that I feel better this way and because they're all a part of a theme--short ficlets set two weeks after the characters' defining 'events'. And good lord what a fabulous, fabulous idea and execution! They're little scenes that I can see slipping in between the pages of canon, little ideas that are just gems for what they say about the hope and resiliancy of the characters and the OP world as a whole. I honestly can't pick a favorite--every time I read the ending of the Chopper one (omg omg omg why isn't there more of Chopper learning under Kureha?), I think about how brilliant the Zoro one was, how adorable the Luffy one was, or how perfect the Sanji one was. Each one shows an insight or an aspect of the character, shows how they picked themselves up and kept going, stronger than before, because that's what these characters are. Just. Fabulous. (No warnings/pairings.)
- One Piece - The Annoying Thing About Happy Endings... by Maldoror - I was intrigued by the author writing One Piece genfic (which doesn't get nearly enough love, of course), but then she started sliding towards ZoSan? Omg, of course I was going to read and gush at some point. ♥ It's just. It's not really a serious fic, but it's not a parody fic either, it's that really great space between where it's funny and charming and totally OP-ish and just. Just. Just. Omg. This is a great future for the characters, something that I would love to see and something that would be good for them and there's that line when the kid is introduced and I literally had to turn away from the screen and laugh out loud for a good thirty seconds. The dialogue in this fic is just fabulous, especially any time Zeff or Sanji opened their mouths, I could absolutely hear their voices speaking. And I was totally over the moon for the mentions of Luffy and Nami. This was a great fic set after the characters have reached their dreams, a story that feels like it doesn't take anything away from having reached them so young or the sense never-ending adventure of a series like One Piece. (Zoro/Sanji, some Luffy/Nami mentioned.)
- One Piece/Bleach - Thirteen Going on Fourteen by Celeste - Sanji sighed to himself as he heard the sound of weapons being drawn. The chef wondered rather philosophically, why dying was necessary if the parts that came afterwards were exactly the same as the ones you’d been through when you were alive. I sort of knew I wanted a OP/Bleach crossover, but I didn't know how badly I wanted it or how beautiful Zoro and Sanji in the afterlife would be until I read this. It's just. It's just. The author so beautifully captures the whole... so strong it's stupid attitude of both series that makes this crossover work. That's the beautiful thing about the OP characters in Soul Society, that they'd be ridiculously, idiotically strong and I would laugh the entire way through it because they wouldn't stop bitching at each for a minute. The other thing I love about this story is that it captures the... it's not quite crude dialogue (though, there is a lot of swearing), but there's a very rough quality to these characters and it's great for both Bleach and OP that further contributes to how much it makes the fic work. It's just. A crossover that works, omg. After the Naruto/Hunter x Hunter crossover Celeste did, I'm ready to call her Queen of the JUMP Crossovers now. XD (No real warnings/pairings.)
- Stargate: Atlantis - Paternal Instinct by qwirky - I feel sort of horrible about this, but I... I... I have a babyfic kink with Ronon/Teyla. Mostly because the idea of Ronon with a kid is sort of insanely hilarious, even if I know I shouldn't like babyfic quite so much. But this fic came along at the right time to blow the seedling of want into a full-blown kink and it's just... it starts out with John carrying a baby around the lab and going, "Oh, crap." when the baby might have touched something and the baby's okay but everything after is hilarious. The conversation with Teyla! The ending! I still crack up at the ending. The fic is so adorably cute and I love it so much because I couldn't stop grinning the entire time and what is it about this series that makes me want babyfic just like this? God knows. But this was fun and from now on I WILL BE SHAMLESS in my love for the SGA babyfic! (Ronon/Teyla, some John/Elizabeth.)
- Stargate: Atlantis - Satedan Parenting 101 by miriel - Serilda pointed this one out to me because she's lovely and knew I wanted pretty much any and all Ronon/Teyla fic links. Also, I have that babyfic kink I refuse to be ashamed of. And, awww, both hilarious and sort of adorable--because, honestly, who doesn't think Ronon walking into a meeting with a baby strapped to his back isn't the funniest thing ever? I don't want to meet that person. Anyway, the fic is written wonderfully, the prose is lovely and there's a sense of these people being from a different culture--not just in the way people keeping wondering why Ronon's taking care of the kid the way he is, but in the way that it's simply different from what we know. It's all-around just a good, solid fic and I adore the way the Ronon/Teyla relationship was written in it. (Ronon/Teyla.)
- Stargate: Atlantis - Reply to Sender by qwirky - This was just a short, cute little thing that I liked. I have to admit, the idea of e-mail spam on Atlantis is kinda funny and there were one or two lines that put a smile on my face while reading, which is about all I ask. (Irritated!John is kinda lots of fun, too.) Then add in some John/Elizabeth and I was happy to add this fic to the pile of SGA fic I wanted to read tonight. :D (Sheppard/Weir.)
- Stargate: Atlantis - Veracity by Little Red - [ part 01 - part 02 ] - There are some authors in fandom that are just good, it's not about appealing to the squeeing fangirl in me (not that that part wasn't quite present and accounted for, mind), but about structuring a well-told story, about rock-solid, even sparkling, characterization, about hitting all the notes it was going for without hammering them into the reader's head. The writing of this story is fabulous, all the way around, all those little things that make up a hurt/comfort story in the way that makes me remember why I loved this genre so much in the first place. I mean, I was almost hesitant to read this fic, I thought h/c might be the entirely wrong tone for Sheppard/Weir, it might be trying to force something I wasn't sure I was ready for yet, since I'm still more on the UST side of the fence than the RST one.
But this story is gorgeously written, the kind that makes me ache for John in the aftermath of being tortured at the enemies' hands for four days, it makes me ache for Elizabeth trying to deal with it, trying to help him, trying to support him, trying not to push him too hard, trying to deal with her own worries and loneliness while he's so distant from her. The author didn't push too hard on making it a dramatic story, it was almost a quiet story, which made the effect so much more haunting. The established relationship between the characters worked so well here, woven into the story, important to it, rather than just being tacked on for drama's sake.
Overall, it was one of those stories that I was wary about reading ahead of time, but it quickly swept me up into the writing and wouldn't let me go for the whole ride. It's not an epic, but it's a lengthy story that takes exactly the amount of time it needs. Even the R-rated scenes were gorgeous! This is the kind of John/Elizabeth story I didn't know I wanted out of the SGA fandom, I didn't know I'd want something this serious until I'd read it and wish I could read a hundred more just like it. (Sheppard/Weir.)
- Stargate: Atlantis - A Difference of Opinion by ALC Punk! - I've been developing a taste for John/Elizabeth smut since I've been slowly sliding closer and closer to liking RST (vs UST) with the pairing. So this lovely little gem came along at just the right time--partly about the smut (okay, mostly about the pretty, pretty smut ♥) and partly about the dynamic between them, how they can both be more than a little stubborn. Resolutely sticking to their side, refusing to give an inch even as the other turns their ministrations up a notch, makes it even hotter. Loved this. <3 (Sheppard/Weir, NC-17-ish.)
- Yami no Matsuei - Cutting Edge by Serilda - Omg, squee. The image of Watari getting involved with Halloween and what he was making in this fic were just so damn squee-worthy without being too cutesy. That's what I like about Serilda's take on the couple (and why she'll always been queen of the pairing), that I can just see these events, I giggle or grin like an idiot the entire way through, and it's not too over the top. Instead it's cute and clever and, god, I can't write a decent rec of this one without spoiling it. Just. Watari is Watari and Tatsumi is Tatsumi and it was Halloween fic and I adored it. ♥ (Tatsumi/Watari.)
- X-Men - Paradox Law by Valerie Jones - [Note: This is the follow-up story to Betrayal, so you'll be very confused if you haven't read that one. This rec will also contain spoilers for "Betrayal", so do not read it until you've read the previous fic. Seriously.] As I mentioned in the rec for that fic, this is the set of stories (Betrayal, Paradox Law, and Game of Empires) that helped start me writing recs, that is still absolutely, positively my favorite fanfic ever. No matter how much I read, no fic manages to capture both my imagination and my heart like this author has. This is quite possibly my third read-through--and as I've mentioned numerous times, I'm not one who rereads much fic, there's too much stuff out there that I haven't read to waste time on the stories I already know. But by the time I reach the final chapter of this story, by the time I've gotten so engrossed in it yet again, there are tears in my eyes because it's such a moving story.
Sure, it helps that it focuses on my favorite things/characters and contains a lot of the kinks that I have weaknesses for. (Playing with the scope of Gambit's powers, the father/son issues with Xavier, the effects of Gambit's relationship with Rogue, etc.) But it's not just that, it's that the story is genuinely a good one. It's epic in scope, it's brilliantly plotted, and it's incredibly detailed at every point it needs to be. Knowing the ending, having read it twice before, each chapter is loaded with details that will come up again later, little clues along the way that are woven seamlessly into the narration so that you don't even notice them until you're rereading and going, "Oh...!" I love that the story goes through at least four seperate time-lines, each time so different and yet make sense in their own way, and the structuring of the story leaves me breathless every time. I love that by the time I finish "Paradox Law", I feel like I've been through the wringer, that each timeline was a lifetime ago.
It's still more than that, of course. The author also focuses this story on a set of four original characters that I tend to forget aren't from the books themselves. They make sense, they're so fully three-dimensional characters that I get caught up in them just as much as I do the actual X-Men. True, it helps that Remi is basically Gambit in another life, but he never lived the same life, he never went through anything of what Gambit did, Rem'aillon Neramani is not Gambit. So, to have the majority of the fic centered on him and to make it one of the most riveting reads ever? Such tremendous talent. Because he's not just a flat insert that jars against the world he's in, he's got his own motivations, his own personality, his own reasons for everything, his own flaws even. You can see Remy in him, but he's not Remy at the same time and even after all these years that, too, still takes my breath away.
The use of canon events also still takes my breath away. These stories were written several years ago, of course, but the sense she made of the mess of canon? The way the author wove together events, spiralled off others, made it all fit with the canon we actually saw in the books? Brilliant to the point that it sometimes affects my view of canon itself. It sometimes feels like canon just... lined up for the story like it was meant to happen. Or maybe it just feels that way to me because I have stars in my eyes. I freely admit that I'm biased as all hell on this story. But the sense of... the author being so familiar with the stories as they happened in canon, then what could very well happen if you changed just one thing and watched how it snowballed... it's fantastic.
It's fantastic to read Remi's interaction with the massively different timeline where the Shadow King ruled, where Rogue was a woman without hope, where Jean was devestated by loss, where Xavier was a man who had no ability left to dream, it's amazing how different yet how similiar these people are. Like they truly could have been those people in that lifetime. That one thing changed could lead to these circumstances. And by the time Remi's getting to that fourth timeline, when he's jumped back in time for the fourth time, you can feel his desperation and how close he is to his breaking point. When he has some small measure of peace to hold onto, you can feel the relief in him and it's so absolutely earned by the author. It's not cheap drama, everything the character goes through is earned by the story.
I'm not sure what else I can say about this story. Everything I say feels like it's not enough, it's not descriptive enough, it's not insightful enough, it's not a lot of things. I want this to be my final rec for this story, despite that I can go on at length about it and I'm sure I'll be settling in for my fourth read through in a few years from now. It's That Story for me. Gambit has always fascinated me. The lack of knowledge about his power, the hints we've gotten, the incredible psi-shields that were never explained, the lack of exploration on his ability to charge objects, not knowing who his family is, it all engaged me. I've always liked the idea that Remy was the third Summers brother and I probably always will, even after canon has closed that door. (His connection to Sinister is so intriguing though--!) But this story hits me even harder. It's brilliant from start to finish, truly doing the idea of Remy being the son of Charles Xavier and Lilandra justice. Hell, not simply "justice", it blows everything else I've read out of the water. Not just for the strength of it on a technical level, but because the story has a spirit that I've never bonded with so strongly.
And, shut up, I can be fangirly if I want to. This story was That Story for me. D:< (Implications of pairings, but nothing worth warning for.)