Hieroglyfics Recs

Geoffrey gen (as per the author; I read it as implied Geoffrey/Ellen). Geoffrey’s madness from the inside out. In this case, his madness is directing Tom Stoppard’s The Invention of Love, and if I knew this play, I am sure I would have gotten even more out of this story. As it is, there are all sorts of wonderful wry bits of metaphor and in-joke that even a dullard like me noticed. I thought it particularly brilliant to use Cheryl, the stage manager from Theatre Sans Argent in the first episode, as the grounding center of reality here.

Geoffrey/Ellen. Ellen returns to New Burbage, gets coaxed into doing Romeo and Juliet, and meets Geoffrey. What makes this work for me is the level of detail; it’s not just about the characters’ interactions, it is about their lives, and it all rings true, from the theatrical to the mundane. Ellen is totally spot on, and Geoffrey and Oliver ain’t bad either - I could hear them in my head while reading.

Mostly gen with reference to Geoffrey/Ellen and Cyril/Frank. The backstory of Geoffrey’s going mad during Hamlet is such a fact of canon that it could have been a dull story, but telling it through Cyril’s eyes gives it a fresh twist. Plus, yay for a Cyril story, with hints of his own drama and life.

Anna-centric mostly gen with a bit of Anna/Nahum. This was my absolutely favorite Yuletide story this year, and is my favorite S&A story ever. Anna returns from Bolivia to the “Theotre sons Argent,” as typed with Geoffrey’s old typewriter that turns a’s into “circular blobs,” and takes charge. The dialogue is fabulous, the details wonderful, and every character voice absolutely perfect. Quirky and charming, and as those who were in S&A chat with me know, Anna/Nahum is my seekrit OTP.

Geoffrey/Ellen, Oliver/Geoffrey. Both hysterically funny and achingly sad: Geoffrey and Ellen have a literal ghost in bed with them as they rekindle their old flame.

Geoffrey, Oliver, Charles gen. An astonishing AU take on a plot element in the third season. The story read entirely like the show: I heard every bit of dialogue in my head, I saw every bit of staging. And in my head I was going, oh my GOD oh my GOD, as I realized where the story was going.

Oliver/Geoffrey. Pre-season 1, a somewhat drunk and maudlin Oliver tells the story of how he discovered Geoffrey to a jaded bartender. The voice is fantastic, and the characterization very believable. The allusion in the title makes me grin, but the grin is gone by the sobering end.

Geoffrey/Ellen. Smart and sensitive and evocative in all the right ways without being overdone. Post-S3, Geoffrey’s in Montreal, alone, while Ellen finishes her contractual obligations. I particularly love Ellen, who seems to have just stepped right out of S3.

Ray Kowalski/Geoffrey Tennant. This is a wonderful due South/Slings & Arrows crossover in which Ray and Geoffrey meet in an airport during a snowstorm. This is my favorite type of crossover (and actually reminds me quite a bit of my own dS/Wilby crossover Islands), in which the actor-identity aspect is exploited for the story, with the real pairing behind the scenes clearly Ray/Fraser, and the imagined intersection of the characters seems very true. Funny, sweet and sad, with a satisfying ending.

Kate/Jack, PG13. What happens after Jack and Kate go off to Hawaii. Not only did the characters seem entirely true to what we saw of them in canon, the whole story arc seemed to me to be not only plausible, but also consistent with the type of story S&A would tell - it was like the story intended for a spin-off that was never filmed - and there’s a lovely resonance with the very beginning of S&A which I won’t reveal, but which I thought oddly fitting.

A gen Firefly/Slings & Arrows crossover that fills me with glee! My knowledge of Firefly is basically from seeing Serenity, and I understood the story just fine. (If you don’t know S&A, you won’t get the full depth of the story, but you’ll still get it okay.)

Geoffrey/Darren, perhaps PG13/R-ish, and hysterically funny, with totally spot-on dialogue.