The Fic of a Snick

Have been slowly working through the scads of YT fics downloaded to my Kindle. Here's the first batch of recs. :D

( Imperial Radch, Sunshine (McKinley), Sunless Sea, Cthulu mythos, Discworld, Twin Peaks, Gladiator (music video), Fucked My Way Up to the Top (song), Guys and Dolls )

Crossposted from Dreamwidth. Comment here or there. ( DW replies)

Most of these have been sitting in my bookmarks for a while, waiting for a recs theme that fit. Well, here's one: these are fics that get my VERY VERY HIGHEST recommendation. These are flat-out some of the best fics I have ever read. Or at least some of the ones I liked the most.

With No Lodestar in Sight by lindentree - True Grit, Mattie/LeBeouf, 82k.
Eighty-two thousand glorious words of plotty post-canon adventures and slow-burn romance. I cannot even tell you how much I love this fic. The author captures Mattie's voice and scalpel-like pragmaticism perfectly, and Rooster Cogburn is in it, and also did I mentioned adventures? And plot? This is everything I could have dreamed of in a post-canon shipfic, and it is so, so satisfying.

Counterfeit and Counterpart by Frea_O - MCU, Maria+Natasha friendship, 28k.
It's very rare that fic depicts friendship with as much care and nuance and with as many emotional complications as romance gets, but this fic does. This is a prickly friendship, sometimes two steps forward and one step back. And don't let the summary fool you - this is not a series of unrelated vignettes, but a story with a purpose. Maria is cranky and great, and there's a road trip at the end that's just marvelous. This whole fic is marvelous

A Beginner's Guide to Communing with the Dead by suspiciousflashlight - SPN, Dean/Castiel, 77k
This is an urban fantasy AU where Dean is a work-worn cop haunted, literally and figuratively, by the murder of one Jo Harvelle, and who accidentally summons an angel to his attic. And then keeps him there. And convinces him to help Dean solve the murder. It's the worldbuilding and the plot I love this fic for - it is possibly one of the most tightly-plotted fics I have ever read, with definitely one of the best climactic scenes I have ever seen in a fic. Or possibly in fiction.

Crossposted from Dreamwidth. Comment here or there. ( DW replies)

Ah, summer: that time of year when a young woman's fancy turns to superheroes and space operas. Apparently. This happens to me every year, but not usually quite this emphatically!

I've rewatched GotG a couple of times and have a ton of stuff liked on Tumblr that needs to be queued, and also I'm working my way through almost two years of AO3 fic. This hasn't taken as long as you might think, because there are STILL only 1500 works on AO3, and only 800 that are complete, over 1k, and in English.

So I'm having a delightful time, and now I have some recs!

Skin by interabang
Drax/Gamora, 1.1k. A quiet, gradually developing relationship between two people who have lost a lot.

Conjugal Relations by Wandering_Swain
4.5k, Drax/Peter. “Are you propositioning me?” / Drax looked relieved. “Yes.” Theoretically a PWP, but with a lot of humor and character stuff in it.

we tried the world (it wasn't for us) by FreshBrains
1.1k, Gamora+Nebula, human AU. The fraught sisterly relationship through a different lens. I would read so many more words of this.

windy and wild, got the blues in your shoes by argyleam
1.5k, Gamora/Peter. This is kind of a hard ship to sell me in because of how awkwardly canon tries to set it up, but I am totally sold on this casual, respectful, try-this-and-see version of it. Also has this fantastic moment voyeurism in it, which I didn't think I was even into but which this fic ties into feeling safe and connected. I really, really loved this fic.

ride along to another shore by argyleam
1.6k, team gen. A night with the team after a job. Not a lot happens in this vignette, but this author has such a great voice and such a great handle on the character voices that I didn't mind at all.

never been a sinner by glorious_spoon
8.9k, Peter/OCs and team gen. Peter barters his body to a crew of pirates to keep them away from his team; after it's all over and they get away, his team is not ready to just let him pretend like nothing's wrong. The crew of the Milano is maybe not your first choice for post-trauma care, but what they lack in finesse they make up for with bucketloads of sincerity (despite themselves). I really enjoyed how despite what happened to him, Peter gets to spend most of the fic being active and making choices. Very satisfying.

Crossposted from Dreamwidth. Comment here or there. ( DW replies)

There is sadly no Olli in this recs post. I just wanted to use this nifty icon.

( Pens Pairings )

( Bruins Pairings )

( Other Pairings )

Crossposted from Dreamwidth. Comment here or there. ( DW replies)

My focus this Yuletide has been largely space stuff, stuff with lots of focus on female characters, or both, which informs most of this list. (I have been having the BEST time, too. I'm going to use this strategy every year.)

( Dune, Jane the Virgin, Saga (Comics), Vorkosigan Saga )

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Busy couple of months! Good job, little hockey fandom. *pets it*

( Pens fic )

( Bruins fic )

( Other fic )

Crossposted from Dreamwidth. Comment here or there. ( DW replies)

Apparently it is Rectober this month, and also the Yuletide letters post is up (signups opening tomorrow, I believe), so this seems like the perfect time to rec all of the gift fics I've received in past Yuletides.

Yuletide 2008
Three times Valancy said what she was thinking (and one time she didn't have to) (The Blue Castle - L.M. Montgomery, Valancy gen, 2k)
The very first exchange fic I ever received! My request was basically one of those "I'd love anything!" ones, but the result is just lovely, and so very much in the spirit of the book. I think the Valancy+Olive scene is the one that sticks most in my mind.

Yuletide 2009
Good Children (Spirited Away, Chihiro gen, 2.9k)
Exactly the day-in-the-life/worldbulding fic I wanted about Chihiro's life in the bathhouse. I have particularly fond memories of her further encounter with the Daikon spirit.

Eh By Gum (Wallace and Gromit, gen adventures, 5.3k)
Candy making caper with mandatory sneaky villain! The voices here are so good. There are so many great lines. I see there is more W&G fic on the archive now, but I think this was the first.

Yuletide 2010
The Time Comes (seaQuest DSV Krieg+Ford gen, 2.1k)
I think this was the third year in a row I'd requested seaQuest fic, and finally my ship came!. (Except not a ship, because it's gen. :D) This is set very much in and around one of my favorite episodes of S1, and captures some of the thoughts and motivations of one Ben Krieg (who reminds me a little of my current Brad Marchand headcanons, though that is neither here nor there).

Yuletide 2013
and now we are many places (FF, gen ensemble adventures, 2.9k)
A fic about a day out with the Future Foundation, featuring exactly as much mishap and joy as the comic itself provides. (Gosh, I loved this comic.)

Yuletide 2014
So Goddamned Beautiful (Saga, Alana/Marko, 4.6k)
AKA the Alana/Marko mpreg fic of my dreeeeeeams. I accidentally peeked at the tags for this ahead of time and freaked out, and then it met all of my expectations and more. The worldbuilding is perfect, the character voices are perfect, it's porny in all the right places. BEST.

A Tale of Two Thieves (Uncanny X-Force, Psylocke/Cluster, 2.3k)
A very sweet fic about two thieving mutant ladies coming to terms with themselves and each other. The only femslash I've ever gotten for YT; apparently it's inspired me to request a bunch more, judging by my letter this year!

Crossposted from Dreamwidth. Comment here or there. ( DW replies)

Guys, I finally got a chance to read my rarepairfest, fic, and it is AMAAAAAZING. It is The Honey Trap, and it is 1800 words of Stalk/Brand via Raymond Chandler, where The Brand is our gumshoe and The Stalk is that bad idea that keeps coming back. The voices are FANTASTIC, and the xeno sex is hot, and I am so happy.

If you're into Saga at all, you have to read.

Crossposted from Dreamwidth. Comment here or there. ( DW replies)

And now there is a/b/o with Jupiter taking pity on Stinger during his heat, as a favor. This hits my id in ALL THE PLACES.

Crossposted from Dreamwidth. Comment here or there. ( DW replies)