Fandom in the time of Coronavirus

[melannen]

So, for some of us, this is looking like a good time to curl up in a blanket and read fic for a couple of weeks!

Who wants to share recs for fanfic or pairings or canons that are good for while anxious and stuck in the house?

I am enjoying rereading all the Garak/Bashir fic right now - if you don't know the pairing, it's from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, about a bright-eyed Starfleet doctor with a dark secret, and a cynical Cardassian exile with a dark past and a heart of gold, and their complicated relationship (which was queercoded on purpose in the show.) A lot of the fanfic is set post-canon, with both of them on Cardassia helping with recovery after devastation from a terrible war, and it's all very soft and hopeful but set in troubled times.

I've also had a very slow project of going through my entire AO3 history (I'm currently in the summer of 2012, the first Avengers movie just came out) and pulling out the fics that I never want to lose track of ever, and bookmarking them as permanent collection. Hopefully, I'll get a chance to get farther in that project in the next couple of weeks! Everything in that collection is works I'm happy to go back to when I need a comfort read.

And if you have any old favorite fics you've been trying to track down but can't, let's use this post to try to track them down! I have two pre-AO3 fics I've been wanting to add to that collection but can't remember enough to find:

--There was a Pirates of the Caribbean fic, probably on LJ, the summer after the first movie came out. It was set in modern day, though I think it was a reincarnation AU; there were capers at a marina, all the old gang got back together, and Jack Sparrow was an IRS agent. Does this ring any bells? There might have been two similar stories that I'm combining in memory.

--There was a very long post-canon Spike/Buffy fic where Spike had disappeared and Buffy found him living quietly in some backwater town, working as a professor at the local college and leading poetry workshops for demons in the evening. Buffy started going to the workshops for lack of a better idea, and at one point wrote a villanelle (I think?) with the refrain "I shape death with my hands".

Comments

[tozka]

Re:PotC fic: The IRS thing rings a bell, although I think they were ALL IRS agents? I definitely read it on LiveJournal...was it a Will/Jack story?

[jjhunter]

*camps out in the comments excited for moar recs*

I've posted some longer fic and canon recs recently: Story Recs for a Long Haul + round 2

And for those who like WIP fics, I'm continuing to really enjoy all 3 of these: 3 WIP Fic Recs with Excellent Identity P0rn. (Star Wars; BnHA; Teen Wolf / Marvel Cinematic Universe)

Fans of the Untamed may want to check out Stulti's Ao3 bookmarks and rec posts - she's been on a months-long reading spree & has exquisite taste.

ETA: I would also like to make a plug for certain kinds of horror as cathartic and perversely relaxing right now? In a kind of 'wow, eldritch horror is even worse than our current RL global pandemic situation; yes, pandemic is awful, but it's also eventually solvable' kind of way. See rachelmanija's post 'On Horror'.

Sometimes we want to hear that everything will be fine. But sometimes the only way anything can ever be fine is if we admit that everything isn’t fine right now. Horror tells us that everything isn’t fine, and we should start listening to the people who’ve been saying so all along. And if we are those people, it tells us what we most need to hear: “I believe you.”

My current fannish obsession of choice for horror is The Magnus Archives; rydra_wong has a great rec post for the canon.

[ilyena_sylph]

On the PotC fic: one of them you're looking for is "And Taxes". And there are like 10 stories.

But I've lost the link.

...or I could have checked comments before i posted, sorry!

[lannamichaels]

Naturally I am sure there is a fic I've been trying to track down but I can't at this point remember what fic or anything about it, so I am sure this will hit me at 3AM. But until then:

Here is my recent rec for SV Wishes by Feynite (primarily 人渣反派自救系统 - 墨香铜臭 | The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System - Mòxiāng Tóngshiù with some crossovers with other works by that author). It's wonderful feel good fic and very very long. Canon knowledge is not needed.

The other SVSS fics by the author are also fantastic. Good Vibrations presents itself as a fic about if the demon characters can purr and in the meanwhile wanders through a lot of stuff about relationship negotiation and making sex not hurt (but it's funny). The author also puts all the non-SV Wishes AUs in one work (chapter index linked): I highly recommend A Change of Genders (femslash) and Supervillainy (what if they were all in a supervillain comic book instead).

Here's my rec tag; I hope to get off my ass in the near future and rec the longfic that I reread a lot but haven't recced there.

[cuddyclothes]

If there are any Jeeves/Wooster fans who enjoy long reads, I recommend anything written by Mice. She is a brilliant writer with fantastic AUs as well as canon-specific stories.

For House fans, I recommend the Kelpie AU series written by readingrat. It takes place a few minutes before the S7 finale. Each fic is novel length. It's Cuddy/House. https://archiveofourown.org/series/82711

[writerkit]

My "help me track this down" isn't something I read so much as it's something I saw somewhere else-- someone had mentioned positively a Draco/Neville fic where it was a main driver of the plot that Neville had, because of being thought to be a Squib as a child, been sent to Muggle primary school and thus knew a lot about Muggles and Muggle things, but they didn't name the fic. Does this sound familiar to anyone?

For recommendations:

Agents of Shield, "Oh Elope with Me in Private and We'll Set Something Ablaze" by zauberer_sirin. It's Skye/Coulson, from the very early days of the show before the Hydra takeover or Inhumans being a thing, and they go on a road trip so Coulson can collect Captain America trading cards. It's *adorable*, and gentle, and incredibly sweet. https://archiveofourown.org/works/1399615/chapters/2934196

burntcopper's National Service series, which is Narnia but ignoring The Last Battle, in which we see the boys enter the military and the girls joining Torchwood. I love it because we get so much outsider POV, of people looking at these four people who are clearly very experienced at wars and supernatural things and going "But how? How could they *possibly*?"
https://archiveofourown.org/series/8533

If you want an epic, well-researched, largely canon-compliant Narnia deconstruction that covers the entirety of canon and basically all the genres (there's a "not a romance", there's a spy thriller, there's some war drama, there's coming-of-age...), rthstewart's Stone Gryphon Cycle. Note that the whole cycle isn't finished; there's many hundreds of thousands of words here but she's not done with the finale: https://archiveofourown.org/series/15017

Over on Harry Potter, "Romancing the War". It's Snape/Hermione but where Snape survives the end of the book, in which Hermione decides to rehabilitate Snape's reputation by writing a romance novel to be serialized in a racy magazine which is going to be a fictionalized version of the actual events, with Snape as Dark Brooding Romantic Spy. Frequently hilarious: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11190177/chapters/24986166

Being stuck in the house also seems like a good time to *write* that epic fic you've been envisioning forever but have never plotted out!

[watersword]

Nthing the above recs for "National Service" and "Stone Gryphon".

A Guy Like You Should Wear A Warning (48788 words) by laurakaye - MCU, Clint Barton/Phil Coulson. Characters: Melinda May, Nick Fury, David Hasselhoff, Audrey Nathan, Victoria Hand, Natasha Romanoff, Basil (OC).
Tags: Phil Coulson & Nick Fury Friendship, Undercover as Married, Undercover Missions, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Cruise Ships, fine Italian menswear, Organized Crime, First Time, First Kiss, First Meetings, terrible crimes against music, Minor Phil Coulson/Audrey Nathan, Mentor Nick Fury, POV Phil Coulson, wacky spy adventures, Friendship, Families of Choice, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Reference to past Phil Coulson/Felix Blake, Pre-Canon

Summary:

The words on his arm were crisp and clear, written in a rushed-looking scrawl like someone had taken a purple marker to Phil’s skin.

So I take it that second honeymoon isn’t working out the way you’d hoped?

Phil’s legs went out from under him and he sat down with a painful thud, all brain processes diverted to the task of staring at his arm and wondering—and wondering—

Phil was waiting, was the thing. Not for sex—definitely not for that—but for romance, for a relationship. He knew that not every soulbond was sexual or romantic in nature, but most were, and he wanted that, wanted the kind of marriage his parents had, bound together in every possible way.
And he was going to meet his soulmate on his second honeymoon?

Bookmarker's Notes:

“Do you have good grades, Phil Coulson?” Agent Fury finally asked.

“Yes, sir.”

“Extracurriculars? Hobbies?”

“Marching band and track, sir. And, er. Collecting comics.”

“What instrument?”

Phil blinked. “Um. Saxophone?”

“Good,” Agent Fury said. “Trumpet players are assholes.”

I love the character voices in this, and the worldbuilding is really well done.

---

And Never Been Kissed (166710 words) by thehoyden, twentysomething - Hockey RPF, Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin. Characters: Sergei Gonchar, Jack Johnson, Colby Armstrong, Maxime Talbot, Marc-Andre Fleury, Mario Lemieux, Alexander Ovechkin, Shea Weber, Patrice Bergeron, Ryan Getzlaf, Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, Crosby Family, Lemieux Family (Hockey RPF).
Tags: Alternate History, First Time, Epistolary, Jealousy, Pining, Possessive Behavior, Voyeurism, Underage Drinking
Summary:

Sid didn’t introduce himself in the hallway, and he certainly doesn’t assume that people know who he is. So it would only be polite to thank Malkin again, this time more personally.

He could write him a letter. An email? No, a letter.

Bookmarker's Notes:

Sid actually knows who Malkin is — on the ice, anyway: physical, a strong centre, with skating that Sid would be hard pressed to forget. It’s difficult to put that together with the skinny, friendly boy who hugged him so tightly. If it’s possible, Sid actually feels more anxious now that he has a name to put to the face. He wants to get back to Rimouski and find a way to get all the tape he can on Malkin; he’s already trying to think of an excuse to do so.

It just feels — unfinished. Like getting interrupted wasn’t part of the plan, like it doesn’t make sense for that to have been it. They had a one-sided conversation for maybe all of five minutes, but Sid can’t shake the feeling that it happened for a reason.

omg this is the cutest. long slow burn romance novel full of pining and friends to lovers.

come all ye ot3 connoisseurs

[jjhunter]

Laid to Rest by acernor (人渣反派自救系统 - 墨香铜臭 | The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù)

Liu Qingge is struck by a poison that affects him at inopportune moments. The only cure, of course, is dual cultivation with an accomplished cultivator. Too bad that the only person around is Luo Binghe, and that suddenly everything is happening at once.

Yue Qingyuan? Kidnapped. Shen Qingqiu? On his way to rescue him. Luo Binghe? Confronting a truth he never expected. And Liu Qingge is left with his spotty cultivation, a bone to pick, and no plans for how to cure himself of the poison.

PODFICS ARE AWESOME, says JJ who would like a pocket dimension to listen to these again right now

[jjhunter]

Do you know what's even better than a lovely long great fanfic? A lovely long great fanfic that has been narrated as a podfic/podbook!

Some favorite audio performances of long fic I love:

HP Podbook of Reparations by Saras_girl, Read by 6shotamericano and sequel podbook

Series this is podficcing: Foundations!verse by Saras_Girl (HP, Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy)

Harry is about to discover that the steepest learning curve comes after Healer training, and that second chances can be found in unexpected places.

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[podfic] The Fifth Act read by lunchee

Fic this is a podfic of: The Fifth Act by Sinnatious (Final Fantasy VII)

Cloud has an accident with a Time materia, and finds himself in the middle of the Wastes at the start of the Wutai War. There are people to save... and for that, there are three people who need to die.

=

[Podfic of] All the Other Ghosts read by klb and mriaow

Fic this is a podfic of: All the Other Ghosts by rainjoyswriting (Glee, superhero!AU) [pdf and ebook versions available here] - sequel: Grey

It's a big city for one more lost soul in a mask.

Gosh, I might have to go reread this (or relisten to this!) immediately - it likely helps that I don't know Glee, and approached this as essentially orig!fic, but wow does it deliver if you don't mind meandering from canon characterizations. (Did I mention I love secret identity and identity porn? I really love fics that explore identity and intimacy and courage in subtler variations.)

[alexseanchai]

I have recs in the comments of one of jjhunter's posts linked above and I have apparently forgotten to rec blackkat entirely: I'm reccing the Naruto works (though Kat's clearly gotten massively into Star Wars recently) reverse, backslide, and Stormborn. The first two are what if someone time-traveled from [sometime well after I stopped paying attention to canon, and probably well AU from canon anyway]; in backslide that person is Naruto himself, landing months before smol!Naruto graduates the Academy and adopting his "cousin" at the earliest opportunity, and in reverse that person is the Kyuubi no Kitsune, landing years before smol!Naruto graduates the Academy and promptly kidnapping smol!Naruto and, over the course of the fic, every other jinchuuriki and Uzumaki in the whole damn world, thus upending everybody's politics. Stormborn is, what if Naruto was the reincarnated Uzukage, and ran away from Konoha with Gaara in tow basically the moment he figured out what that meant, in order to rebuild Uzushio and (mostly as side effects) kidnap most of the other jinchuuriki and upend everybody's politics.

[dragoness_e]

Ooh, there's some good stuff on your list! That I haven't read yet! Bookmarking for future reference.

Myself, I've toyed with the idea of making some kind of public collection with editorial comments (like a fiction 'zine, only using AO3's features) of the classics in my old fandoms. Just so people don't forget or lose them.

[beatrice_otter]

Here's my first set of recs: https://beatrice-otter.dreamwidth.org/398475.html

plotting

[jjhunter]

Speaking of Ao3 collections - I kind of want a fictional_fans longfic recs collection on Ao3 for everything people are reccing here - y'all have great taste! :D

[yourlibrarian]

That Buffyverse one sounds very familiar -- I'm sure I've read it myself though not recently. I did a search at buffyversetop5 and am wondering if it might be this one? My Life Closed Twice by Anaross https://dark-solace.org/elysian/viewstory.php?sid=4100

[sylvaine]

Dyce the Incredibly Easy Breton, 110k+ of really surprisingly sweet Skyrim porn with a dash of plot by mongoose_bite (some of which have been podficced by yours truly sylvaine)

=

Book of Sanguine 30k+ more surprisingly sweet & somewhat plotty Skyrim porn by Fallowsthorn (all but the last have been podficced by yours truly sylvaine as well)

Gerard Way's Vampire Detective Agency,160k+ of exactly what it said on the tin. :D It's an intricately worldbuilded (that's now a word, damnit) RPF (My Chemical Romance/Bandom) so no canon knowledge needed. Written by jjtaylor, with links to podfics by pennyplainknits and fayjay

=

The Anatomy of a Fall, 100k+ of a high school ghost romance mystery fic. Another RPF (My Chemical Romance) AU with no canon knowledge necessary! Written by novembersmith, with links to a podfic by klb

=

Another delightful no-canon-needed RPF AU:

No Map for Our Travels (27,438 words) by exmanhater
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Supernatural RPF
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki, Danneel Harris/Adrianne Palicki
Characters: Danneel Harris, Genevieve Cortese, Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Misha Collins, Chad Michael Murray, Samantha Ferris
Additional Tags: Femslash, Community: spn_j2_bigbang, Genderswap
Series: Part 1 of No Map For Our Travels
Summary:

Jensen's life is predictable and safe, and she likes it that way. At the beginning of her last year of grad school she knows exactly what the future holds, and it seems like enough, until she meets Jay. Jared Padalecki isn't a typical anything, and her arrival in Jensen's life shakes everything Jensen knows about herself into disarray. Jay has never done anything the way she was supposed to, and falling for her hot TA is no exception. As she gets closer to Jensen, she realizes nothing will ever be the same again – and she can't wait.

[marmota_b]

I spent the past few days reading a Pride & Prejudice slightly-AU story focusing on Kitty. Slightly-AU in that it still takes place in the period and isn't some kind of coffeeshop AU or whatever. It's fun and delightfully full of historical detail (and since that's a period I focus on as a costumer - though Austen surprisingly genuinely wasn't my first reason for that, haha - I enjoyed that a lot, too).

A hit, a very palpable hit (149357 words) by Shem
Chapters: 47/47
Fandom: Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Kitty Bennet/Other, Fitzwilliam Darcy/Elizabeth Bennet, Charles Bingley/Jane Bennet
Summary:

Mr Bennet’s family is larger than just Mr Collins (thank heavens). One of his sisters, Clara, who has been distant for some ten years, re-emerges into his life demanding the company of one his daughters. Both Mr and Mrs Bennet consider Kitty expendable so it is she who is dispatched right in the middle of the most exciting period of her life, after all how often does a regiment of soldiers visit Merton? But Clara’s presence will effect more than just Kitty.

[duskpeterson]

I recced some original-slash long reads here:

https://duskpeterson.dreamwidth.org/296957.html

[luckyzukky]

i don't know how many people here are fans of steven universe/ao no exorcist, but i've been reading a lot of fic from both lately so i thought i'd drop some recs anyway ^_^

wheels by hadithi - steven universe, 10724k, steven/connie, fluff/light angst
a very chill and cute fic set right after the events of bismuth casual. there's some light angst but it's mostly just steven and connie staying out late and being very awkward with each other, lol. the shipping is pretty light but it's still there regardless. short but sweet!

if i were (same but different) by hueue - steven universe, 41303k, time travel, angst, hurt/comfort
basically, su:f steven ends up in the past with 12 year old steven, and it's a whole angsty mess. past!steven and future!steven bond despite their differences and it gets messy but it has a bittersweet happy ending that makes it all worth it. the author also has some more really good su fics, so i recommend checking out their other works too if this interests you.

when the stars align by call_it_a_miracle - ao no exorcist, 46201k, yukio/renzou, rin/shiemi, manga!verse, angst, adventure, slow burn
this is actually an ongoing series with 5 works at the moment! i've been following it since the 1st fic and it is so, so good. unfortunately it's heavily based on the manga so that might be a barrier for casual aoex fans, but it's an angsty adventure with shipping, flashbacks, big reveals, and much more. also it has my otp yukishima which makes everything better lol

prepared with love by earlgrey_milktea - ao no exorcist, 4416k, fluff, angst, cooking/food, friendship, character study, light manga spoilers but can be read as anime!verse
a mostly fluffy fic (but gets pretty angsty towards the end) in which rin learns how to cook, how to love it, and how to find comfort in it, even when things get really hard in his life. i've reread this so many times i can't count, it's just that good. the author's other aoex works are very good too!!

[binary_sunset]

I actually do fic recs every (ish) Friday, which you can find here. Most of it is Fantastic Beasts, Kingsman, and Star Wars, but you can also search respective fandom tags on my page.

2 SPN Destiel Longfics

[tinny]

I just stumbled across this one again yesterday, and it's still as good as I remember.

Note: I almost dropped the story in an early chapter because of the gay-bashing. The warning on the story is justified. That is the only disturbingly violent part of the story, though, and I'm glad I stuck it out so I got to enjoy the warm fuzzies throughout the rest.

Title: The Best Years of Our Lives, My Ass by CharleyFoxtrot
Words: 110K
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence (Gay-bashing)
Pairing: Destiel
Author's summary: AU after Season 8, episode 6, "Southern Comfort." Dean goes to sleep in a motel room in Texarkana, and he wakes up 17 years old, in his childhood bedroom in Lawrence, Kansas, 1996. He has no idea how he got there, why his parents are still alive, why his brother is an adorable freshman with no memory of his adult life, and why the only ally he has in this place is the angel he left behind in Purgatory – somehow also 17 years old. They have to get out, that's the important thing. Only, falling in love with his angel wasn't a part of the plan....
My opinion: This story is 100k of pure wish fulfillment: a good life for Dean and Cas, true love forever, lots of self-discovery for Dean, which makes him a happier person. A mature fic in every way. Not only sexually, but in all the ways it matters.
Quote: (formatting condensed)

Dean turned around the corner and let his hand drag against the wall, catching the switch and flooding the bathroom with light. Lurching toward the sink, he let water run from the tap into his outstretched hands and splashed it over his face before looking in the mirror.

An unfamiliar face stared back at him. No, not unfamiliar – young. It was the face of himself, just before he'd dropped out of high school.

Dean felt panic begin to force its way up his throat, and he was just about to give in to it when he spotted a movement behind him. He spun in place, arms coming out in an automatic defensive position before he saw who was behind him.

“Mom?” he gasped, letting his arms fall to his side. Which was stupid, really, because in his experience a veritable shitload of things could be impersonating his mother, including the Grand Poohbah of Purgatory and any number of Heaven and Hell's denizens.

“Honey, did you have another nightmare?” Mary Winchester stood behind him, arm resting against the doorjamb and a small smile on her face. She didn't look like she had in the few pictures Dad kept of her – there were more crow’s feet, more lines around her mouth, and her blonde hair had a touch of gray at the temple, but it was still unmistakably his mother.

Somehow, the signs of age convinced him that this was real in some way. If some creature really wanted to fuck with him, it'd be a picture-perfect rendering. Even the djinn hadn't got the aging right. And she was talking. Talking to him like this was normal, like he hadn't somehow got shot to a world where she was alive. Like everything was okay.

Dean prided himself on his adaptability, but this was so far beyond his experience that he just stood there and took it in a sort of stunned amazement. This had to be a dream.

-------------


Cinderwings (181619 words) by bendingsignpost
Fandom: Supernatural
Rating: Mature
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Jessica Moore/Sam Winchester
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Cinderella Fusion, Alternate Universe - Magic, Slow Burn
Summary: Under the cover of a masquerade ball, Castiel has five nights to recover the key to his people's freedom. The world has changed greatly in the six centuries since their banishment into the void, but the task isn't impossible. Unfortunately for Castiel, this is going to involve talking to people - especially the Knight Prince who has taken an interest in Castiel and his "costume" wings. (Destiel Cinderella AU)
My Summary: Don't let the "Cinderella AU" tag scare you. The setup is taken from the fairy tale, but the plot has only the vaguest resemblance to Cinderella. What it does have is great worldbuilding, wonderful slow burn, and excellent characterization. I knew it was worth subscribing to this author, even though I haven't read anything of his in years.

[sulien]

Changing things up and starting with a feature length fan film rec for those who enjoy Tolkien/The Lord of the Rings: Born of Hope, by Kate Madison.

For mixed media, if you're at all into slash, particularly the Rodney McKay/John Sheppard pairing from Stargate Atlantis, you've got to experience Missed the Saturday Dance by Zoetrope. Seriously, amazing doesn't even begin to describe this one!

For a nice, long read, I highly recommend Disa Langlois' Jurassic World epic Raptors in the Rainforest. This is what the Jurassic World movies really should have been! It's actually a new twist on first contact stories and goes in ways you really don't expect. It's long (292,713 words over 4 complete stories) and every bit worth the time it takes to read.

If you're a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Cordyfan's epic series A Different Future is definitely a don't miss. Some of the stories are complete, some are still WIPs, but by the time you finish the first 6 stories, some of the others should be complete.

If you're a fan of the USA tv series In Plain Sight, I've got a short list of recs here on AO3, the longest and best of which is Two Marshals for Sister Sheryl.

Otherwise, I've got a ton of recs for fics of varying lengths on both AO3 and Twisting the Hellmouth.

Lastly, you can't go wrong with anything by jedibuttercup.