Recs: January 29, 2010

[bethbethbeth]

Some of you may have noticed I completely failed to attend to my usual December rec "duties," but in my defense…um…I was busy? I'm finally reading what I can of the Holiday Exchange fics and I'll be updating my DW Fic and Recs Journal every dozen or so recs, starting with these fifteen stories…



Commercials

Fern Davant (animagiblender on DW and LJ): "The Fic Your Fic Could Be Like" (Old Spice. "This is that fic you love. You know the one. The one that has everything in it you could possible want. It's the fic your fic could be like, about the man your man could smell like. I'm on a horse." One of my favorites from the 'crack' side of yuletide2010. Very funny, and it just gets better as it goes on.)

Fairy Tales

"Shades of Bittersweet" (Beauty and the Beast - Disney. "What if Belle married Gaston? A series of vignettes set ten years after Gaston's ultimatum." Very much not a 'happily ever after' tale, but one that makes everybody, even Gaston, seem at least a little sympathetic.)

Frankenstein

Gehayi (gehayi on LJ/DW): "Sweeping Ashes Into the Sea" (Robert Walton, the Creature. "Sometimes the most powerful weapon is a glimmer of hope." A yuletide gift for me, and exactly what I've been hoping to see - for years now - to solve the problem of an ending to the novel that I'd always found less than satisfactory. Well voiced and often touching.)

Good Omens

e (etothepii on LJ): "I Used to Live Alone Before I Knew You" (Fusion with Sherlock BBC. John/Sherlock. "Where Mycroft is an angel, Sherlock is a demon, and John is still John." This is, as the author's notes say, a fusion, not a crossover. So...imagine Sherlock as Crowley, and Mycroft as Aziraphale, and John...as John. Wonderfully conceived and executed.)

Harry Potter

Delphi (atdelphi on LJ and delphi on DW): "The Ballad of Filius Flitwick and Severus Snape" (Snape/Flitwick. "A year in the secret courtship of two not-dissimilar Hogwarts professors. " A wonderfully wrought romance, in ballad form!)

Fanfic Forensics (fanficforensics on DW): "Exile" (Snape/Lupin. First War AU. "After Halloween in 1981, Remus Lupin takes a detour to Hogwarts before leaving the country, determined that he's not going to lose the only loved one he has left." Ordinarily I don't rec art, but this paneled fic is most definitely a story - and a clever one, at that.)

GatewayGirl (gatewaygirl on LJ/IJ/DW): "Blood and Choices", which is a sequel to Blood Magic. I'm just going to repeat the information from "Blood Magic," because those of you who haven't read that story should really read it first: (Harry, Hermione, Ron, Draco, Snape, Lupin. Technically Gen, but elements of Slash and Het. Long. "Blood magic was supposed to keep Harry safe, but his relatives are expendable. Blood magic was supposed to keep Harry looking like his adoptive father, but it's wearing off. Blood is a bond, but so is the memory of hate -- or love.") (Note: "Blood and Choices" is long, but "Blood Magic" is very long...and one of my very favorite stories.

Kelly Chambliss (kellychambliss on LJ): "What to My Wondering Eyes Should Appear" (Gen. Dobby pov. "Dobby doesn't have a red nose, and he's never claimed to be a reindeer. But when it comes to delivering Christmas presents, he'll go down in history." Set in Hogwarts at yuletide during Snape's tenure as headmaster, this is a charming story with a very out of the ordinary perspective on the private lives of the Hogwarts' staff. Excellent sense of detail and a surprising amount of tenderness, despite the tense political climate in Hogwarts during DH.)

Miss Morland (miss_morland on LJ): "The Healing" ( Poppy Pomfrey/Severus Snape, Tobias Snape "Severus is still not well, but he will be. And when that time comes, Poppy swears to herself, he's the one who will be getting up on cold mornings to fetch tea." Comfort and care, but without the cloying sentimentality that sometimes pops up in hurt/comfort fic. An especially believable Poppy Pomfrey, and a very true-to-life backstory for the Snape family)

R. Grayjoy (r_grayjoy): "Found in the Moments Between the Search" ( Snape/Sirius "When Sirius returns from beyond the Veil with knowledge of Voldemort's Horcruxes, he takes on the task of finding and destroying them. Somewhere along the way he finds an unexpected ally and perhaps something more. (AU from the end of OotP, takes place during HBP period)." One of the rare non-PWP Snape/Black stories that really feels believable to me. Excellent characterization and an extremely good meshing with canon.)

King's Speech (The)

cruisedirector (cruisedirector on LJ): "The Beauty of Their Dreams" (Lionel/Bertie, Elizabeth, Myrtle. "On the advice of his speech therapist, the King tries to work out what he needs to clear his head." Smart and perfectly voiced. Strangely believable...and quite touching at times.)

Merlin

Anonymous: "Pairing Pendragon/Merlin" (AU, posted on the Merlin kinkmeme. "Arthur is a BNF and Merlin is his prized beta" Posted anonymously on the Merlin kinkmeme, this story is so charming and so meta-fandomish that its garnered recs - deservedly - from many folks who are no part of the Merlin fandom. If you're reading this the week I'm updating my recs, you've probably already read this, but if you're a fan from the future: go read!)

Sherlock Holmes

e (etothepii on LJ): "I Used to Live Alone Before I Knew You" (Fusion with Good Omens. John/Sherlock. "Where Mycroft is an angel, Sherlock is a demon, and John is still John." This is, as the author's notes say, a fusion, not a crossover. So...imagine Sherlock as Crowley, and Mycroft as Aziraphale, and John...as John. Wonderfully conceived and executed.)

Resonant (resonant on DW / resonant8 on LJ): "Amenable" (John/Sherlock. "You certainly never forgot who you were kissing with Sherlock." A perfectly wonderful "first time" story, in which John is at least as good at 'observing' as Sherlock is.)

Sarah T (harriet_spy on LJ / saraht on DW): " (however improbable)" (Sherlock BBC. Mycroft, Sherlock. '"When I say, therefore, that Mycroft has better powers of observation than I, you may take it that I am speaking the exact and literal truth." But powers of observation aren't everything.' A mystery, of sorts...and wonderfully / frighteningly ambiguous)

Comments

[kelly_chambliss]

Thanks for the rec! (Dobby thanks you, too).

Re: Old Spice. Have you seen the library parody of it from Brigham Young U? Really well-done; I show it in class just for the fun/hell of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ArIj236UHs

(Also, did you know that if you go to Youtube intending to type in 'Old Spice' and accidentally type in "Old P," among your choices of hits is "old people falling down stairs"? *goes back to check it out*)

[bethbethbeth]

oh, that's great!

Have you seen this Annie parody to publicize a Writing Center?

Or this Norwegian university video about plagiarism? (click on the cc button for captions, unless you read Norse)