Current Recs

Astronomy in Reverse by lady_ragnell
[Star Wars: The Force Awakens]
"With Rey gone to find Luke Skywalker, someone needs to receive her messages and respond to them. Poe expects General Organa to take on that duty, but since Rey is asking more about Finn than anything else, she asks Poe to do it instead." Perfect voices throughout.

His Number's Always Up by devera
[Person of Interest]
"There are some numbers Finch doesn't try to save" Short, imaginative crossover. KikiRec

#BringHimHome by MelRows
[The Martian]
"Mark Watney will need to buy a lot of people beers." A look at social media during Mark's stay on Mars; in places, deadly accurate and quite funny.

Reap the Whirlwind by imaginary_golux
[Star Wars: The Force Awakens]
"During a battle, Finn is captured; General Hux demands that Finn be brought to him so he can kill the traitor himself. Rey objects strenuously to this plan."

Monsters in the Dark by somethingelseornothingatall
[Arrow]
"Felicity has the ability to see guardians, spirits that protect the majority of people. Some guardians talk, others don't. Oliver Queen's is a sassy, chatty beast. She starts helping Oliver, forming Team Arrow, and getting drawn into the pull that is Hurricane Oliver." Interesting twist that plays out amusingly, and a good read; au for first season.

Cousin Harry by Nicnac
[Harry Potter]
"She had been dating Dudley Dursley for almost six months when the topic of Cousin Harry came up the first time." Excellent outside POV, my only complaint it that it's too short! [ETA: Huzzah! there's a longer sequel in progress!]

#standbylegion by esama
[Marvel Cinematic Universe]
"V-day takes out the Avengers. JARVIS copes, one tweet at a time." Very dark, but very well-done, and oddly hopefully by the end.

Philia by sanctuary_for_all
[Lucifer]
"It wasn't until later that Lucifer would realize (to his alarm, of course) that [Chloe] didn't even glance back, simply assuming that the progeny to which she was obviously devoted would be safe with the Lord of Hell." Short, but lovely Trixie and Lucifer moment.

Freeze on the Stones by Robin4
[Once Upon a Time]
"One choice can change fate. Regina chooses love, Snow stays silent, and Cora casts the curse. Rumplestiltskin knows that trusting Cora with that much power is dangerous -- but he has no choice if he wants to find his son. 28 years later, Gold and Regina awaken in Storybrooke and must work together to make the Savior believe. Yes, this Storybrooke is far darker than the one you know." This makes more sense in so many ways than the show.

An Early Thaw by ironychan
[Marvel Cinematic Universe]
"An alternate universe: the year is 1986. Ronald Reagan is president. Peggy Carter is director of SHIELD. Howard Stark is CEO of Stark Industries and father of a fifteen-year-old son. And a survey team in the arctic has just found Captain America" Fully realized AU, a bit grim, but very believable. teen!Tony is a particular delight.

what are you afraid of, making it better? by dollsome
[Gilmore Girls]
"Alternate ending for 6x21, in which Emily Gilmore is simply unwilling to accept that Luke and Lorelai aren't getting married, and some important conversations are finally had." Satisfying fix-it fic. Everything from this episode on was so stupid, this comes as a massive relief.

Five Times the LITs Were Completely Oblivious (and That Time Jenkins Wasn't) by greyathena
[The Librarians]
"Somehow, the Librarian and his Guardian have managed to keep most of their flirting out of eye-and-earshot. Also, the others may be a bit willfully ignorant." Sweet for the Eve/Flynn; silly for the LITs (slightly OOC) obliviousness. Jenkins' last line is worth the price of admission.

Thermotemporal Equations by Blinky the Tree Frog (blinkytreefrog)
[Marvel Cinematic Universe]
"Bucky Barnes is used to strange happenings; his time with the Howling Commandos has guaranteed that. He's therefore not totally thrown off balance when he wakes up in an extraordinary tower in a seemingly impossible year. He can't help but be worried though, no matter how much reassurance he's getting from Steve and his new team." Excellent and tense time-travel story.

Betrothal Negotiations by atheilen
[The Goblin Emperor]
"The Emperor's nohecharei never leave him alone. The Emperor's bride has her own thoughts on the matter." Csethero makes life a little easier (and more interesting) for herself and Maia. Short, strong POV.

26.2 by Siria
[Elementary]
"'I'm not in much danger of running a marathon while hung over,' Joan said as she headed for the door.
'Well, I didn't think I was, either,' Sherlock said, locking up behind him, 'but that's the perfidy of the Irish for you.'" Very good Joan POV and wonderful Joan & Sherlock interaction. KikiRec

Occupational Safety by shadydave
[Star Wars: The Force Awakens]
"'Like they're going to make sure no one ever falls down the thermal exhaust shaft.'" Or, who thought it was a good idea to send Poe and Fin out on missions alone? Or, Finn really wants a grappling hook.

Definitions

AU -- alternate universe. Stories which diverge from the show's canon in one way or another (a character doesn't die, a character does die, the setting is different, etc).

Babyfic -- A main character is either pregnant, had a baby, or found one on their doorstep. I have a sneaking fondness for many of these, but I'll warn you first.

BDM -- Firefly fandom shorthand for the Big Damn Movie (ie, Serenity). Not the other thing you were thinking; get your mind out of the gutter!

Canon -- facts, settings and relationships verified by what has actually aired on the series in question. Jack O'Neill was a POW, Chris Larabee's wife and son were murdered, Max, Michael and Isabel are aliens, Josh Lyman and Sam Seaborn met long before the campaign -- that's all canon. Anything that fans have inferred without direct evidence or have completely made up is non-canon (and often AU).

Crackfic -- a story with a premise so out there, that it's obvious the author must have been smoking some serious monkeycrack. Crackfics tend to be crossovers or AUs; they will be either brilliant or appallingly bad.

Crossover -- a story based on the characters or universes of two separate fandoms; i.e., The X-Files/Due South, The West Wing/Stargate SG-1, Angel/The Dead Zone, Hercules/Buffy (I'm not making any of these up; in fact, I wrote one of them).

Episode Continuation -- just what it sounds like. A story that fills in a missing scene or continues on from the end of an aired episode. Also known as a tag.

Fanon -- any 'facts' about a character or series that are not supported by the series canon, but have been floating around for so long, or have been used in so much fic, that the majority of the fandom accepts them as truth. Examples: Daniel Jackson's coffee addiction; Duncan MacLeod living in Seacouver.

Gen -- used here to designate a story in which romantic relationships play a minimal to nonexistant role in the plot. Everything I rec may usually be assumed to meet this definition of gen unless otherwise stated.

H/C -- hurt/comfort. Beat your characters up emotionally or physically, then let them make each other all better. See Whumping.

Het -- used here to indicate a story's focus on a romantic relationship between two people of opposite genders (ie, non-slash). Anything with a ship that I rec may be presumed to be het unless otherwise stated.

Id-fic -- possibly not the greatest fic ever written, but systematically pushes every single one of the emotional buttons of the reader. I try to be self-aware enough to warn for these.

Jossed -- a story (or writer) has been jossed when it has been made AU by events in canon after it was written. Named for Joss Whedon, who made a habit of declaring earthquake in Buffy canon so often that writing fanfic within that canon was an exercise in willpower and frustration.

Kidfic -- 1) One or more main characters are reduced to physical childhood (mental/emotional is frequent, but optional). 2) One or more main characters find themselves with custody of one or more small children, ala "Three Men and a Baby". 3) The story centers around the children of one or more main characters (parentage often depends on whom the author ships). Any of these can be fun/WAFFy/cool if done correctly (your odds drop sharply with 3, but I've seen it pulled off). They can also be appallingly bad; approach with extreme caution.

KikiRec -- don't just take my word for it; my sometime partner-in-crime recommended these fics, too.

Mary Sue -- the most hated woman in fanfic. Essentially an original character who is the personification of the author -- only more perfect, beautiful and lovable than the author could ever hope to be. (The male version is thankfully more rare, and known as Gary/Marty Stu.) It can be done well, but 98% of the time, it's not. Also known as a self-insertion character. Note: Original character does not necessarily equal Mary Sue; it depends on the author and the story.

Original Character -- a non-canon character created by, and belonging to, the author.

Pre-slash -- In many slash-heavy fandoms, this categorization is often sooper sekrit code for 'gen'. Anything with this heading may be worth a shot if you're a non-slasher.

POV -- point of view; the character(s) through whose eyes we see the story.

Schmoopy -- containing emotions bordering on the treacly; perhaps a tad overly sweet for the educated palate. But WAFFy as all hell, nonetheless.

'Shipper -- a person or fic dedicated to a particular romantic relationship; i.e., Sam/Jack, Josh/Donna, John/Aeryn.

Slash -- used here to indicate a story's emphasis on a non-canon romantic relationship between two characters of the same gender. Usually labeled m/m or f/f.

Smarm/Swarm -- emphasis on friendship between two or more guys (hugging, h/c, moral support, etc.) without implications of slash.

Smut -- used very affectionately to refer to stories containing NC-17/explicit sex.

UC -- unconventional couple; a romantic pairing not explicitly supported by show canon, or not usually accepted by the majority of the fandom; i.e., Tara/Spike, Carson/Teyla, Chloe/Lex.

WAFF -- warm and fuzzy feeling. That glow of happiness/idiotic grin carried around after reading a particularly sweet/touching scene.

Whumping -- gratuitous physical or mental abuse of a character for the sole (or nearly sole) purpose of setting up H/C (i.e., so everyone else can angst interminably about it). Go read Sarah B's hilarious poem Gunga Dunne to get the real meaning of Whumping.

Willow Sue -- a particularly virulent form of the Mary Sue, in which a canon character is warped beyond all recognition to fulfill the needs/desires of the author, who is severely overidentifying. Named for the most prevalent iteration, but present in most fandoms. (Male form usually known as the Xander or Harry Stu, or a similar variation.)

WIP -- work in progress.

YMMV -- your mileage may vary, which is pretty much the motto of this page. Opinions presented by the reccer don't necessarily reflect yours, and I'm okay with that.