Joe/Billy. Awesome structure, and some really cool and different ideas that pull this one above the usual HCL fic. There’s some fabulous writing in it and some odd grammatical errors, but overall I like it lots.
Eight years after CotW, Ray finally gets the nerve up to go after Fraser. This basic storyline has been told a zillion times, but it’s done well here, with some lovely bits of writing and some lines that really zing. What I like best about this story are the vivid little snapshots at the beginning, of Ray and his new partner, of Stella and Vecchio down in Florida, of Frannie and her babies. Oh, and the emotional aww of Ray and Fraser finally getting together, of course.
When Fraser comes to Chicago to visit the Rays (who are in a relationship), each man dreams of the others together. I have a hard time with threesome fic that isn’t PWP, because I have a hard time believing in a perfectly-functioning triad of these guys, but using the fantasy/dream device works beautifully here to make it all seem possible and plausible and utterly desirable. Each POV is distinct and well-written, and the ending makes me go mmm.
A quiet and gentle story, showing Ray and Fraser’s characters and their relationship through slow revelation. I really like the somewhat distant Fraser POV; there’s a sense of evaluation, of measured observation that seems perfectly consonant with the characterization. I’m not fond of the title, nor of the device of kissing someone to shut him up, but hey, the rest of the story’s so very beautiful, I shan’t complain too much.
Five things Vecchio and Kowalski broke before they moved in together, from the provocative to the quotidian, painting a picture of their relationship in little bits.
This story is a first-person Ray POV (beautifully done, IMHO) retelling of much of canon, through COTW and beyond, and although it drags a little bit in the middle (I’m not a fan of retelling canon the reader already knows) it puts an interesting spin on canon by getting them involved right after Odds. By the time COTW happens they’re already lovers - and then the quest is them not having sex, and not talking about it, and having to actually figure their relationship out. I am such a sucker for men not being able to communicate! The turtle metaphor that runs through the story is wonderful, perfectly apt without being heavy-handed, and I adored the Ray-voice and Frannie’s cameos.
Post-COTW, in which Ray goes back to Chicago, Fraser gets posted in Banff, and they slowly figure out they need to be together. There’s so much detail, so much richness, and the pacing is slow and sure and perfect within a well-crafted structure. I like seeing Fraser posted somewhere other than middle-of-nowhere, Canada after COTW, and I also loved the implication that the bowling alley was Vecchio’s cover story, because yeah, that always seemed hinky to me, too. The one thing I wasn’t fond of was the present tense, which didn’t work well for me with the time span and structure - I kept noticing it, which knocks me out of the story.
Fraser/RayK, Fraser/RayV, implied Ray/Ray, implied…things I don’t even want to mention. :-) NC17, short story. The warning at the beginning tells you it’s going to be semikinky!sex threesome fic with tentacles, but it starts out as a deceptively normal story in which shortly after Fraser discovers that Ray and Ray are having a relationship, each of them separately approaches him for inexplicably motivated, incredibly hot sex. I really like the POV, which is a somewhat distantly-observed Fraser, not so much in his head but rather commenting with wry detachment. There’s all sorts of great detail, from the cases they’re on to the amazing sex they’re having. And then the story takes an abrupt turn for the total crack as the punchline to the shaggy-dog story sneaks up on Fraser - and on the reader. Hee!
Pirates of Penzance, Pirate King/Frederic/Samuel, R. The Pirate King and Samuel instruct the eager Frederic in, er, additional duties. This is fabulous and hilarious and absolutely glorious. The style is a perfect pastiche of Gilbert and Sullivan, and the combination of innuendo and innocence just - wow. I am floored. Yay!
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.
Aubrey/Maturin, NC17, AU. If this is a fusion with something I don’t recognize, it’s brilliant, and if it’s an original fusion I’m floored. It takes O’Brian’s world into a different direction in the same way the Temeraire series does (but with its own completely realized execution: swords and sorcery, and a complicated feudal/sexual structure), and as such it would be fabulous as original fic. The dialogue and characterizations are fabulous, the minor characters from the series welcome grounding in canon, and the plot nicely done with a punchy ending.
Northern Exposure, Chris/Joel, NC17. Joel reacts to Chris’s pheromones. The voices were spot-on perfect - I could hear them in my head, even hear Chris’s measured tones narrating it for me. It’s told as a series of possible events, and oddly the what-if-ness made the alternate possibilities each seem more plausible and real.
Zenna Henderson - The People series, gen, G. This story was written for ME! Yay! But even if it wasn’t, it deserves a rec because it is just that fantastic. The gentle story of a young woman who comes to college and discovers that her assigned roommate is just a little bit…different. It will make you smile if you know the series, and it will make you want to read the series if you haven’t yet.
Shopping for gear for the quest. The language is just lovely and makes me want to hug them.
Fraser’s locked in a room and doesn’t have the right tools to get out; his dad is no help at all. So funny.
A tiny sharp ouchy bit of zing.
Sheppard (Flanigan) gen/het pastiche vid. (It’s hard to describe this with my predefined categories!) I guess you’d call this a constructed reality vid: Joe Flanigan as James Bond, set to the Bond theme (as used in Casino Royale), with clips from SGA, Thoughtcrimes, and other Flanigan appearances. The technical aspects are uneven - there are a few odd aspect-ratio blips, and some of the timing seems off to me - but the clip selection is extremely clever, and the effect is brilliant.
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Arthur/Ford-ish. Hee! I’m not entirely convinced MMWD didn’t just scan a chapter I’d forgotten about. Or maybe someone discovered the Lost Works of Douglas Adams in a lost-luggage repository. This is pitch-perfect and a heck of a lot of fun.
It’s a retelling of the Norse Ragnarok myth (for the Apocalypse challenge), which means it’s a death story (as in, everybody in the whole world dies), except that…well, it’s sort of hopeful, which you will see if you read the linked Ragnarok explanation at the end.
Abductions, murderous villains, and Wraith - and the occasional bomb through the window - in between all of it, let’s have an adrenaline-fueled relationship, shall we? Cute and funny McKay/Sheppard relationship development set against a backdrop of narrow escapes from certain death.
This is apparently based loosely on the movie Never Been Kissed: Rodney’s masquerading as a biology grad student in order to get close to Professor Sheppard, for purposes that I don’t want to spoil here but the cool thing is that the AU converges with canon, which is my favorite type of AU. As you might expect, he gets close to Professor Sheppard in an, er, rather different way than he was supposed to. The absolute best part is Ronon, who takes to hanging out on a college campus with unexpected zest.
RayK/Turnbull, implied RayK/Fraser. Ray turns up drunk at the Consulate, looking for Fraser - but he finds Turnbull instead. Turnbull is so goofy and earnest and sweet: “Oh, you needn’t apologize, Detective — Ray,” Turnbull said warmly. “You can kiss me any time you feel it’s necessary.” I wasn’t a fan of the ending, which sort of leaves things in an uncomfortable place that doesn’t really fit with the rest of the story.
Set around Good For the Soul. Oh, this is fantastic. She manages to both stay true to Ray’s rough voice and infuse the story with lyric imagery and a kind of wistful nostalgia. Nice pacing and smooth storytelling.
Ensemble (Fraser, RayK, Maggie, Bob, Frannie, and Dief/Ante :-), G, vid. I can’t believe a vid is making me all misty-eyed, but this is just…awww. There are all sorts of nice moments, like Fraser and Bob walking together in rhythm to the song, and the Dief/Ante is just…awww. Follow the download instructions carefully. File is .mp4 - I played it in VLC.
Harry, Draco, Ginny, R, short story. The author’s summary is stark: Ginny dies. Harry delivers her mail. But that masks a chilling and thoughtful post-war story, in a world in which Voldemort may have lost, but so has everybody else. I don’t want to spoil the story - just go read it.
Welsh-centric gen with hints of Welsh/Frannie, PG, novelette. Welsh has a sucky day - and then it gets worse, as his mother’s ghost visits him and causes him to relive the day from the points of view of every person he’s interacted with. Kind of a cross between Groundhog Day and A Christmas Carol, it’s funny and sly and made me both laugh and go, “awww.”
Elizabeth-centric drabble series. The last line makes me the good kind of weepy.
Kind of an unrequited Ray/Fraser vibe going on here, a little sweet, a little sad. I like the way the clips of the Riv are used to anchor the beginning and end (and there’s a lovely section in the middle that she called ‘car porn’ when I commented on it!) and the use of successive clips with Ray and Fraser in the same relative positions, which underlines the way they’re always together.
Oh, this cracks me up! These short vids are made to the audio of what appear to be 1950s era PSAs. The clip selection and timing is genius, and the freeze-frames make me giggle. And hey, black and white again, although obviously the effect is intended to heighten the period effect. I can’t wait to see the promised third and fourth parts.
Coincidentally, two black-and-white Sheppard vids came out within a few days of each other. Lim’s vid was maybe a little too abstract for me, the literalist non-viddy person, though it’s clearly a technical masterpiece. I prefer this vid simply because I get a clearer narrative from it: to me, at least, this is a rather martial vid about John’s responsibility as military protector and defender of Atlantis. Things I particularly like are the repeated image of John and his dogtags, and the altered speed in some clips which gives more of an urgent, frantic feel that matches parts of the music. It’s a surprisingly long vid; I say surprising because I generally prefer shorter vids, but I didn’t notice the length of this one.