Recs Post

[bethbethbeth]

A little yuletide, a little random reccing...

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Body Worlds Exhibition:

MissJess: "Hang Man" (One of the more unexpected kinds of stories, told from the pov of a display figure from the Bodies Exhibition, which I only recently attended. If you've seen it - or if you've ever wanted to attend - you should definitely check this story out)

the_alchemist (the_alchemist on LJ): "In the bleak midwinter" (Both eerie and heartwarming. Note: a large part of the story focuses on a fetus, in case anybody needs that information.)

Black Books:

Smaychel: "A Matter of Perspective" (Manny/Bernard. "Bernard, Manny and Fran get drunk. Then they get drunker." Perfect voices, and everybody's perfectly in character (Bernard, in particular, is wonderfully unconvincing about not caring even a little whether something's going on between Fran and Manny)

Casablanca:

David Hines (hradzka on LJ):"Sam in Casablanca" (Sam-centric, as you might exepct from the title. "No matter how far he travels, Sam finds the pull of Casablanca hard to escape. Maybe it's because Rick left him there." The line most associated with this film - and also the line that's never really spoken *g* - is about Sam; in other words, in some ways, he's even more the core of the movie than Rick is, which makes this story especially welcome.)

Frostfire (frostfire_17 on LJ): "Sentimental Reasons" (Sam/Rick. ""France and I have never had any major arguments that I can remember."" Not only does this story fit seamlesssly into canon, but it also has a perfect backstory *and* future. Sam's pov, but everybody's wonderful. And this story is long enough to lose yourself in)

Casino Royale:

Lonelywalker: "Gifts" ("Usually Bond and M save the world. But sometimes, just sometimes, they go shopping." Starts as holiday fluff, but ends as something more. Very believable.)

Discworld:

perryvic and shewhoguards: "This Is How The Universe Ends" (Crossover with Torchwood. DEATH/Captain Jack Harkness/Universe. "EXCUSE ME, he said, not impolitely. BUT YOU ARE HOLDING UP THE END OF THE UNIVERSE." The end of time comes, but DEATH isn't quite finished. The irresistible force meets the immovable object - and the result is both funny and angsty.)

Sophia Prester / sophia_prester : "A Place Called Home" (Drumknott, Vetinari. "One of Drumknott's filing systems may be in need of some revision." A perfect look at Drumknott with his family...before he goes home. Very sweet and very believable.)

District 9:

novembersmith (novembersmith on LJ): "No Man's Land" (Wikus-centric gen. "Christopher returns early." A wonderful look at what it means to be an alien...to yourself.)

Earthsea - LeGuin:

Isabeau (isabeau on lJ): "Chasing Shadows" (Vetch/Ged. "Wizards are by their very nature in love with their craft more than anything else, and nothing can surpass that, but Vetch thinks that he is perhaps a bit in love with Sparrowhawk." Mostly gen, but with...feelings. Surrounding the events of the shadow hunt.)

Edo no Hana (rachelmanija on LJ): "Thistledown" (Ged, Vetch, Yarrow. "After Ged's meeting with the shadow, Ged, Vetch, and Yarrow have one more task to perform." Smart and with a believable original young female character.)

Fairy Tales:

Lyss (hydrangea, withertime on LJ): "Fiddler in the Mountain" ("Linn the Fiddler has known her fate since she was a child: to enter the Mountain King's domain and never come back. Now, her days of freedom spent, she returns to her home village to face that fate." A reimagining of "Beauty and the Beast," which includes not only the most essential aspects of the primary tale, but also elements from other bits and pieces of folk and fairy lore. Descriptively fantastic too.)

Penny (on AO3): "Only the Marvelous is Beautiful" ("Every curse can be broken." a re-telling of "Beauty and the Beast," from the Beast's pov and containing a smart, self-assured Beauty.)

Good Omens

Nny (villainny on LJ): "World Without End" (Crowley/Aziraphale. "'Home' was always one of those subjective words, of course." A plotty and clever future history, that perfectly treads the line between dystopia and charming fairy tale)

Graveyard Book (Gaiman)

Jain: "Home Is the Hunter". (Silas/Bod. ""This be the verse you grave for me."" Excellent sense of the passage of time and a Bod who lives in the world of the living, but who's never become quite "normal.)

misslucyjane (lucyjanesparlor on LJ): "And They're There For Your". (Silas, Miss Lupescu, Bod. ""Bod's family isn't like other families."" A lovely moment in time.)

novembersmith: "You Comes and You Goes". (Silas, Miss Lupescu...and hints of a future Silas/Bod. ""I can leave the graveyard and return. I can bring him food," said Silas. / "That's all very well you saying that," said Mother Slaughter. "But you comes and you goes and nobody keeps track of you."" Perfect voices, ten years post-canon)

Harry Potter

soda_and_capes (soda_and_capes on LJ): "Interludes and Peppermint" (Snape/Lupin. "In their fifth year, Remus and Severus are both left at Hogwarts over the holidays. They discover that they have a few things in common." PG. A simple Marauders' Era story, with a Snape and a Lupin who are still young enough that some shared hot chocolate might very well change their future)

Delphi (atdelphi): "In Memory of Sigmund Freud" (Snape/McGonagall, Snape/Moody. "Severus Snape spends his first summer holiday away from teaching cloistered at a remote house in strange company, not least his own." Wonderfully strong characterizations and very powerful.)

Mia Ugly (mia_ugly on LJ): "Blood (but also roses)" (Snape/Harry. "At the end of [the story], two wizards made out in a garden. This is what happened next." A sequel to "Rapture." and achingly lovely.)

Purplefluffycat (purplefluffycat on LJ): "A Million Sharpened Pieces" (Snape/Lucius. Despite the pairing, the focus in this story is on young Severus Snape, just on the cusp of manhood. And it is a story about how moments of decision come quite unexpectedly and how those decisions - once made - cannot always be taken back. An excellent, if rather heart-wrenching tale.)

Pet Shop of Horrors

Lady Ganesh / Phishtar (lady_ganesh on LJ): "Travel") Leon Orcot, Count D - although with an undercurrent of Leon/D. "Leon keeps searching." Leon p.o.v. throughout, but an increasingly self-aware Leon. Lovely.

RPF- Misc:

Toft (toft_froggy on LJ): "De Amicitia" (Cicero/Atticus. "Atticus and Cicero's friendship in its early years" Cicero and Atticus were clearly meant to be, or so I thought since first reading Cicero's letters. Perfect characterizations and wonderfully written)

Stargate: Atlantis

Sarah T (harriet_spy on LJ): "Corvee" (Teyla/Todd. "In San Francisco, Teyla is starting to see things differently." Short, but just long enough to be disturbing.)

Sunshine - McKinley

twistedchick: "A Precious Seeing" (Rae Seddon/Constantine. "In the aftermath of the events in No Town, Sunshine goes up against the Goddess of Pain." Perfect voices and an excellent coda to the novel.)

Temeraire:

meretricula (meretricula on LJ): "wisdom to the mighty, honor to the brave" (Laurence, Tharkay, Granby, Riley...and of course Temeraire and Iskierka. Post-Victory of Eatles, so ware spoilers if you haven't reached that point in the series. A really lovely story, with some wondefully believably childish behaviors, and Tharkay is only mostly in the nursemaid's role. Friendship and...pre-slash, I suppose)

Torchwood

perryvic and shewhoguards: "This Is How The Universe Ends" (Crossover with Discworld. DEATH/Captain Jack Harkness/Universe. "EXCUSE ME, he said, not impolitely. BUT YOU ARE HOLDING UP THE END OF THE UNIVERSE." The end of time comes, but DEATH isn't quite finished. The irresistible force meets the immovable object - and the result is both funny and angsty.)

White Collar

China (china_shop on LJ): "The complete Reasonable Doubt 'verse" (Neal/Peter/Elizabeth. A long and wonderfully satisfying story, written while the first part of the first season aired - and oddly prescient.)

lightgetsin (lightgetsin on LJ): "Figure it OUt" (Neal/Peter/Elizabeth. ""You, upstairs," El said to Neal. He beamed, twirled on one foot, and trotted out. "And you need to stop making it so fun to mess with you," she added to Peter. / She surprised a look of such melting fondness on his face as he looked after Neal that her breath caught. "No," he said quietly. "I really don't."" Smart and hot and lovely.)