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

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.

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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.