gensplosion!

FANDOM: Blake’s 7
FIC LINK: On the Far Shore
AUTHOR LINK: Clocketpatch
RATING/WARNING(S): PG | References to death, the afterlife, spoilers
WIP?/WORD COUNT: 4126
MAIN CHARACTERS: Oleg Gan, Zen, Slave, Jenna Stannis, Cally, Vila Restal, Roj Blake, Del Tarrant, Dayna Mellanby, Soolin, Servalan

FIC SUMMARY: Nothing is needed but good company

RECCER'S NOTES: This is a hauntingly unusual and beautiful post-series fic (so, if you don't know B7, beware, spoilers ahoy). The evocative descriptions of the setting, the way it slowly unfolds as to what this is, and the author’s characterisations, particularly of Zen and Slave in unfamiliar forms is wonderful. It does have some brief mentions of two marriages, but that’s not the focus of the fic at all, and it really is too good to omit.

FANDOM: Sapphire and Steel
FIC LINK: Lieder ohne Worte
AUTHOR LINK: eponymous_rose
RATING/WARNING(S): G | None
WIP?/WORD COUNT: 1365
MAIN CHARACTERS: Sapphire, Steel

FIC SUMMARY: He and she and an abandoned music hall: a solitary performer plays for an empty audience, keeping Time.

RECCER'S NOTES: It’s gorgeously written and haunting, with so much going on in each small phrase. It captures not only the complementary natures of Sapphire and Steel but also that fascinating feel of the canon, of viewing human life from the outside. Just beautiful.

FANDOM: Sapphire and Steel
FIC LINK: Daisy Bell
AUTHOR LINK: usernamegoeshere
RATING/WARNING(S): Teen | Canon-typical horror, ghosts, death
WIP?/WORD COUNT: 32,278 words
MAIN CHARACTERS: Sapphire, Steel, Silver, Diamond, Radium, Original Characters

FIC SUMMARY: In 1979, Sapphire and Steel arrive at the Howard Street Hospital to investigate a time break. They have a chance encounter with the receptionist, Daisy. In 1999, Diamond, Radium, and Silver arrive at the Howard Street Hospital to investigate a time break. They have a chance encounter with the receptionist, Daisy.

RECCER'S NOTES: Sapphire and Steel is the most beautifully weird TV show I have ever encountered (as one TV guidebook described it: “There are many ways of holding a TV audience... Total lack of explanation is not supposed to be one of them.”) and also one of the most interesting fandoms for fic, as authors each try in their own way to interpret those mysteries and transpose that sense of otherness in the mundane to their writing, and nobody does it quite the same way, so I’m hoping to rec some more S&S before I’m done here.

Anyway, this fic one of the best examples - it’s marvellous, long, plotty, completely true to canon-weirdness (if you can say such a thing) and sharply characterised, with every bit of Sapphire-Steel-Silver interaction a delight. Plus – always a huge bonus for me – not only does it include Silver but it brings in some additional ‘operators’ from the opening credits, and explores just how strange they might be. And if you don’t know the series, but you like exploring the weirdness of time or enjoy ghost stories, why not give it a try? It’s a glorious fic and you really won’t know any less than those of us who have watched the canon, honest…

FANDOM: Chalet School Series – Elinor M. Brent-Dyer
FIC LINK: The Avenues of Time
AUTHOR LINK: thankyouturtle
RATING/WARNING(S): Teen | Ghosts
WIP?/WORD COUNT: 4343
MAIN CHARACTERS: Mary-Lou Trelawney, Verity-Ann Carey

FIC SUMMARY:

RECCER'S NOTES: A Yuletide or two ago, I idly asked for a Chalet School story about Mary-Lou that either dealt with her relationship with her stepsister Verity, or had her having Indiana Jones-style archaeological adventures, and I got this, which has both, and is marvellous.

It’s mainly a story of Mary-Lou encountering a self-pitying ghost (“again!” ♥) while trapped underground and how she deals with it in the way only a Chalet School girl could (with plenty of brisk common sense, although not without compassion) with elements of her relationship with Verity-Ann wound into it, including a plausible reason for why they always insisted that they weren’t stepsisters but sisters-by-marriage. And don't you just want to know what happened in Peru?

FIC LINK: Turnabout
AUTHOR LINK: roseveare
RATING/WARNING(S): Teen | Blood, Injury, Guns
WIP?/WORD COUNT: 6419 words
MAIN CHARACTERS: Sid Halley, Charles Roland, Marina Halley

FIC SUMMARY: 'I'd been held at gunpoint before, but it was one area that experience didn't make any less daunting.' Set a few months after 'Under Orders'.

RECCER'S NOTES: The great thing about both these fics is the relationship they focus on, which is an unusual and appealing one – Sid’s a private detective and ex-jockey while Admiral Charles Roland is his father-in-law, except that his friendship with Charles outlasted his marriage.

You don’t need to know the fandom (I didn’t the first time), as this fic is not only beautifully written but also helpfully covers the development of their relationship from initial dislike to the point now where Sid regards Charles as the person he values most in the world – just as he’s in danger of losing him. It's all deftly done, and true to canon, where the depth of the emotion always remains unspoken but understood between them.


FANDOM: Sid Halley series – Dick Francis
FIC LINK: Unbreakable
AUTHOR LINK: edonohana
RATING/WARNING(S): Teen | Violence
WIP?/WORD COUNT: 2401
MAIN CHARACTERS: Sid Halley, Charles Roland

FIC SUMMARY: Sid never meant to bring trouble back to Aynsford.

RECCER'S NOTES: Whereas the other fic covers the whole of Sid & Charles’s relationship, this one snapshots a moment in which (again) Sid’s detective work brings trouble to Aynsford and Charles, but the unspoken understanding they have between them is enough to enable them to turn the tables on a criminal.