longlivehumour: 7. do you always want what you think you want? (maurice sendak)
[personal profile] longlivehumour
FANDOM: Star Wars (Prequels)
FIC LINK: What Is My Heritage? and Coming Home
AUTHOR LINK: [archiveofourown.org profile] Potboy
RATING/WARNING(S): G | violence, brief references to sexual violence
WIP?/WORD COUNT: Complete | 7,700 and 18,300 respectively
MAIN CHARACTERS: Qui-Gon Jinn, Yoda, Dooku

FIC SUMMARY: Two stories focusing on Qui-Gon Jinn as a young padawan, never quite able to fit in. In the first, Qui-Gon asks to be sent home to figure out where he belongs. In the second, Dooku enters the game and Yoda meddles.
Best read together.

RECCER'S NOTES: I rarely read "character as a Youth" stories, since the child protagonists are too often depicted as smaller, blander versions of their adult selves, but this story proves me wrong. Qui-Gon is remarkably well-written: he feels like a real person (who happens to be a child) and the essence of his character shines through every thought and action, in his choices and the way he reacts to events. He is himself, forty-odd years earlier, fundamentally different but lacking nothing. Dooku, too, is not-himself yet himself. There's no hidden seed of darkness: the darkness is right there in the open, yet he's a Jedi and a firmly moral person, albeit one whose morals do not necessarily agree with yours.

Excellent characterisation which does justice to all three main characters, some very sharp criticism/examination of the Jedi Order and finally, a stonking good adventure story. (Also a very satisfying answer to the question of who the hell was Qui-Gon's master: both, of course.) I love it, I love it, I love it.

Eight hundred years of Jedi experience, Yoda thought, and he was not prepared for this. So many Masters and Padawans, taking the same routes, making the same responses to the same problems, and after a while you no longer saw the faces. Only the process, only the Order itself in its monumental evolving beauty.

How had this boy happened now? A thousand years ago there had been Jedi like this - obeying the Force in their own way, and obeying nothing else. Strange, wild, uncomfortable beings, untameable, splendid, chaotic. A thousand years ago they had been needed, to fight the Sith. But the Sith were dead, and what the galaxy required now was Jedi who could bring order, and exist in order.
longlivehumour: 7. do you always want what you think you want? (maurice sendak)
[personal profile] longlivehumour
FANDOM: My Hero Academia
FIC LINK: Tarrare
AUTHOR LINK: [archiveofourown.org profile] Hayato
RATING/WARNING(S): M | body horror; some spoilers for the Kamino Ward arc
WIP?/WORD COUNT: Complete | 3500 words
MAIN CHARACTERS: Toshinori Yagi (All Might)

FIC SUMMARY: There's a pit in his chest. He wants to eat.

RECCER'S NOTES: Since it's coming up on Halloween, a horror fic seems appropriate. True horror is rare on the ground in fanfiction, and this one is a jewel of the genre. Short, tightly written and profoundly unsettling, it kept me glued to the screen as very few other stories have. Even if you don't normally go for horror (I don't) you may want to read this one anyway for the sheer quality.
longlivehumour: Tyger, tyger, burning bright (Default)
[personal profile] longlivehumour
FANDOM: Mob Psycho 100
FIC LINK: The Reigen Arataka Guide to Running Your Own Successful Business
AUTHOR LINK: [archiveofourown.org profile] inverse
RATING/WARNING(S): G | none
WIP?/WORD COUNT: Complete | 1600
MAIN CHARACTERS: Reigen Arataka

FIC SUMMARY: Are you a budding entrepreneur? Have you always wanted to run your own business, but have no idea how to go about it? Do you wish to become a revered businessman and a respected guru who gets regular invitations from the mainstream press and media? Fret not! The new star of the paranormal world, Reigen Arataka, is here to help!

RECCER'S NOTES: A glorious cascade of mystical corporate bullshit. If I could marry this fic, I would.
longlivehumour: crow pecking at the sign for Coldingham Sands (crow)
[personal profile] longlivehumour
FANDOM: Broadchurch
FIC LINK: Cargument
AUTHOR LINK: [archiveofourown.org profile] damalur
RATING/WARNING(S): G | Spoilers for Series 1, mild spoilers for Series 3
WIP?/WORD COUNT: Complete | 1200 words
MAIN CHARACTERS: Ellie Miller, Alec Hardy

FIC SUMMARY: Hardy, Miller, the not-so-open road, and an abundance of opinions.

RECCER'S NOTES: Possibly the best Broadchurch fic I've read. Granted, that's a small superlative given the size of the fandom, but were it bigger I'd still say it and mean it. The voices are perfection - Ellie's in particular stands out - and the push and pull of the argument dialogue is so true to their relationship in the show I'd swear I was in the car with them. I was grinning all over my face when I finished. Don't miss this one.
longlivehumour: (the thick of it)
[personal profile] longlivehumour
FANDOM: The Thick of It
FIC LINK: Referendums Anonymous
AUTHOR LINK:
[archiveofourown.org profile] darkandstormyslash
RATING/WARNING(S):
T | language
WIP?/WORD COUNT:
Complete | 2,000 words
MAIN CHARACTERS: Ollie Reeder, Ben Swain

FIC SUMMARY: Ollie Reeder and Ben Swain try to get their head around the latest political developments: the results of the Brexit referendum. (Part of the series "Still in the Thick of It", but stands well on its own.)

RECCER'S NOTES:
If there's one good thing comes out of Brexit, it's the quality of the comedy. Splendid voice and characerisation. Read. Laugh. Weep.

longlivehumour: Kryten looks down at (and also on) Rimmer. (red dwarf)
[personal profile] longlivehumour
FANDOM: Red Dwarf
FIC LINK: Nine Little Words
AUTHOR LINK: [fanfiction.net profile] Adrian-Tullberg
RATING/WARNING(S): G | none
WIP?/WORD COUNT: Complete | 1900 words
MAIN CHARACTERS: Frank Rimmer, Arnold J. Rimmer

FIC SUMMARY: It doesn't take much to change a life. AU.

RECCER'S NOTES: Unsettling, cathartic, funny and frighteningly plausible, this is an AU that will stick in your head. Frank Rimmer's narration works wonders, his distaste for his brother dripping from every syllable, and the entire storything is full of a black comedy which is very much Red Dwarf. Remember, remember, the Fifth of November, gunpowder, treason and plot...
longlivehumour: Tyger, tyger, burning bright (illustration)
[personal profile] longlivehumour
FANDOM: Avatar the Last Airbender
FIC LINK: Eight Principles of Yong
AUTHOR LINK: [archiveofourown.org profile] psocoptera
RATING/WARNING(S): G | none
WIP?/WORD COUNT: Complete | 3700 words
MAIN CHARACTERS: Zuko, Katara

FIC SUMMARY: The pen is mightier than the sword, or how Zuko saves the day via the power of good penmanship.

RECCER'S NOTES: Short, powerful, beautiful: what Zuko did in the capital after the last Agni Kai. Not many fics can so convincingly add to character backstory; or use the style of AtLA so perfectly, down to the language and tone of its jokes; or add humour to drama without dampening either. This one does. It's a terrific idea, and one of the best Avatar fics it's ever been my pleasure to read.

longlivehumour: Kryten looks down at (and also on) Rimmer. (red dwarf)
[personal profile] longlivehumour
FANDOM: Red Dwarf
FIC LINK: A Different Kind of Ace
AUTHOR LINK: [archiveofourown.org profile] RowenaZahnrei
RATING/WARNING(S): G | mild body horror
WIP?/WORD COUNT: WIP (just updated) | 42000+
MAIN CHARACTERS: Arnold Rimmer, Dave Lister, the Cat, Kryten, Kristine Kochanski, Frank Rimmer

FIC SUMMARY: Rimmer left Starbug to become someone he liked, but he always hated Ace. Now he feels he's trapped playing a part, a failure in a shiny costume. To become a hero in his own right, Rimmer must face up to his old crew, his family, and his self-loathing...

RECCER'S NOTES: One of my favourite genres of RD fanfiction is the one that addresses the Rimmer-as-Ace issue, because it seems sad somehow that our Rimmer, the neurotic arsewipe we know and love, could simply be subsumed into Generic Space Hero #1598719 (what a guy!) with no trace of the original remaining; and over the years there's been many stories written with different versions of What Happened Next. This one, as the title implies, aims to unite the two personas; its depiction of Rimmer's struggle with / acceptance of the role is excellent, it has a good ear for character voice and the plot moves at a good lick. But beyond all that, it's just... fun. To be read slowly - take a break between chapter and chapter, savour the twists in the road. If you've not read it before you're in for a treat, and if you have you're in for another, because it's just updated and the end is in sight. Go!
longlivehumour: "RKRPXZKRMTFRZ!" --Captain Haddock (haddock)
[personal profile] longlivehumour
FANDOM: The Brittas Empire
FIC LINK: Your Gateway To a Stress-Free Life
AUTHOR LINK: [archiveofourown.org profile] Doyle
RATING/WARNING(S): G | none
WIP?/WORD COUNT: Complete | 1200 words
MAIN CHARACTERS: Helen Brittas, Carole Parkinson

FIC SUMMARY: "Stop apologising, Carole, for heaven's sake. Everybody knows it's Gordon's fault for playing that Christmas tape on a loop." Helen's getting pretty good at stress management; she's had enough experience.

RECCER'S NOTES: Short, funny, and strongly in-character; you can just picture the mad glint in Carole's eyes as she explains. A productive conversation between the two most put-upon characters in the Brittasverse.
longlivehumour: Kryten looks down at (and also on) Rimmer. (red dwarf)
[personal profile] longlivehumour
FANDOM: Red Dwarf
FIC LINK: So Bright it Burns
AUTHOR LINK: [archiveofourown.org profile] tawg
RATING/WARNING(S): G | None
WIP?/WORD COUNT: Complete | 600 words
MAIN CHARACTERS: Dave Lister, Arnold Rimmer

FIC SUMMARY: Lister remembers a brief moment from his youth, and tries to deny the effect it had on him.

RECCER'S NOTES: This is one of those hidden jewels, a fic that for whatever reason seems to have gone mostly unnoticed. Proofing may be the culprit in this case - a couple of missing words in vital places - but please, please, do yourself a favour and read it. Good writing isn't about brand new ideas: it's shuffling old ideas into combinations you'd never dreamt were possible, and there's something very powerful to this story.
longlivehumour: Roses are red / antiplastic is blue / bananas are fantastic / and so are you (ninth doctor)
[personal profile] longlivehumour
FANDOM: Sherlock Holmes (Downey films)
FIC LINK: Two Shoes for a Hat
AUTHOR LINK: [archiveofourown.org profile] rachelindeed
RATING/WARNING(S): Gen | none
WIP?/WORD COUNT: Complete | 2,400
MAIN CHARACTERS: Sherlock Holmes, John Watson, (Mike Stamford)

FIC SUMMARY: They have a barter system. It started early.

RECCER'S NOTES:
Almost every version of Sherlock Holmes has its version of the first meeting of Watson and Holmes, and this, as far as I am concerned, is the definitive Ritchieverse canon. The distinctive voice and manner of this universe's Holmes and Watson are captured perfectly, yet somehow it also carries the feelling of the original stories. An all-round delightful fic.



And since in some timezone it's still technically my birthday, and the sun will burn cold before I ever finish a fanwork before the deadline, I thought I'd gift fic recs instead. So! I have an Access database, an obsessive mindset, and far too much free time. Until I get bored or you do, I and they are at your disposal. Ask away!

Fandoms behind the cut )
longlivehumour: Tyger, tyger, burning bright (Default)
[personal profile] longlivehumour
FANDOM: Fullmetal Alchemist
FIC LINK: Vincible Ignorance
AUTHOR LINK: [fanfiction.net profile] maryh10000
RATING/WARNING(S): G | Major spoilers for the end of the manga / FMAB
WIP?/WORD COUNT: Complete | 463
MAIN CHARACTERS: Mrs Bradley

FIC SUMMARY: Of course she had loved him. How could she not? He was the Fuhrer...

RECCER'S NOTES: This is that rare fic that can change your perspective on a character while never once altering the facts. A very thought-provoking and slightly chilling piece.
longlivehumour: Tyger, tyger, burning bright (sendak)
[personal profile] longlivehumour
M*A*S*H leans heavily towards the slashy side, for obvious reasons, but there's some excellent genfic in the fandom too. Here's some of my favourites:

FANDOM: M*A*S*H
FIC LINK: Sanity Will Be Graded on a Curve
AUTHOR LINK: [archiveofourown.org profile] OldToadWoman
RATING/WARNING(S): Teen | vague references to wartime violence and gore
WIP?/WORD COUNT: Complete | 5,000
MAIN CHARACTERS: Main cast (Season 1)

FIC SUMMARY: They're all this crazy because it's the only way to stay sane. The 4077th as seen through the eyes of a terrified new recruit.

RECCER'S NOTES: I read this as a newbie with barely any knowledge of the story; I loved it anyway. The story takes place during the Korean War in a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital where all the personnel, from the army-obsessed surgeon to his fishing-obsessed CO to the crossdressing corporal, are a little bit mad. No further canon knowledge is required.

He hadn't even noticed the gunfire until then. Funny not noticing gunfire. Maybe it was the background music. You never missed the important parts of the picture, because the background music always let you know when the good bits were coming. The music reel was broken today. They should ask for free popcorn. It was only fair.

Four more beyond the tent flap. )
longlivehumour: Roses are red / antiplastic is blue / bananas are fantastic / and so are you (ninth doctor)
[personal profile] longlivehumour
FANDOM: MCU: Avengers / Thor
FIC LINK: Can I have that drink now, please?
AUTHOR LINK: [archiveofourown.org profile] ANonsense
RATING/WARNING(S): Gen | none
WIP?/WORD COUNT: Complete | 400
MAIN CHARACTERS: Tony Stark, Loki

FIC SUMMARY: Tony, on exactly why Loki cannot have a drink.

RECCER'S NOTES: It's a poem. Wait, no, come back! Good poetry is a rare thing, good free verse is rarer, and good free verse which sounds like a thing the character might actually say is so rare, unicorns collect it like stamps. Appreciate it.
longlivehumour: Tyger, tyger, burning bright (Default)
[personal profile] longlivehumour
FANDOM:
FIC LINK: The Cheese Man Cometh
AUTHOR LINK: [archiveofourown.org profile] Snickfic
RATING/WARNING(S): PG | none
WIP?/WORD COUNT: Complete | 1,400
MAIN CHARACTERS: Core Four, the Cheese Man

FIC SUMMARY: There’s something wrong with the cheese world, they agree. The cheese man is not what he was.

RECCER'S NOTES: A follow-up to the S4 episode "Restless": ridiculous, oddly moving, filled with cheese. Do not read if peckish.
longlivehumour: (the thick of it)
[personal profile] longlivehumour
FANDOM: The Thick of It / BBC Sherlock
FIC LINK: Red Right Hand
AUTHOR LINK: [archiveofourown.org profile] jackmarlowe
RATING/WARNING(S): G | swearing
WIP?/WORD COUNT: Complete | 1001 words
MAIN CHARACTERS: Malcolm Tucker, C.A. Magnussen, Mycroft Holmes

FIC SUMMARY: When Mycroft Holmes decides to do business with the country's rising media mogul, he chooses a middleman who knows something about government and the papers. Malcolm Tucker is not best pleased.

RECCER'S NOTES: Very well-written, short, very unsettling. Will stay in your head for much longer than it takes you to read either it or this rec, so get to it. A truly excellent crossover.

Does not require knowledge of both fandoms, but for Sherlock fans: Malcolm Tucker is terrifying Glaswegian press officer for Number 10. TTOI fans: Mycroft Holmes "occupies a minor position in the British Government". (This is a lie.) Magnussen is a blackmailing media mogul.

cor it's quiet here innit
longlivehumour: Tyger, tyger, burning bright (sendak)
[personal profile] longlivehumour
FANDOM: Star Wars
FIC LINK: Zero
AUTHOR LINK: Apache (scroll down the page)
RATING/WARNING(S): G
WIP?/WORD COUNT: Complete | 4,200
MAIN CHARACTERS: Finis Valorum, Qui-Gon Jinn

FIC SUMMARY: Valorum tries to discover Jinn's human side. Part of the "Fin & Jinn" series. Follows "Well Begun".

RECCER'S NOTES: This is part of a series exploring the friendship between Qui-Gon Jinn, Jedi Master and troll, and Finis Valorum (as in, "I move for a vote of no confidence in Chancellor"). The latter has exactly seven lines in canon (I checked), but his character is fully fleshed out here and his rather odd friendship with Qui-Gon is as believable as it is inevitable. This particular story takes place when both characters are young men, each still trying to decipher the other.

I wish I knew if this author is still writing somewhere. They have a very thoughtful approach to storytelling and character that I'd love to see again.

Aaaand I'm done!
longlivehumour: Roses are red / antiplastic is blue / bananas are fantastic / and so are you (ninth doctor)
[personal profile] longlivehumour
FANDOM: Fake News (The Daily Show and The Colbert Report)
FIC LINK: Ye Merrie Olde Adventures of Duke Stephen (and His Knights)
AUTHOR LINK: [archiveofourown.org profile] PlotDohOh
RATING/WARNING(S): PG
WIP?/WORD COUNT: Complete | 14,700 (3,300 + 11,100)
MAIN CHARACTERS: (the fake personas of) Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart, all the correspondents and a number of quasi-political figures whose names I don't feel like typing out right now.

FIC SUMMARY: It all started when the new young Duke, Lord Stephen de Colbert, finally got around to arresting that loudmouthed troubadour — the one who wouldn't stop badmouthing him all over the Duchy of Newest York.

RECCER'S NOTES: Because sometimes you want a dark and serious deconstruction, and sometimes you just want puns. A very funny, very silly fairy-tale AU set in the land of Amurrica. There are swords! There are bears! There is multivariate statistical analysis! There are, most of all, clever, clever puns!
Trust me on this one.

Also: it turns out there are no fanfics beginning with X.
Also also: looks like Photobucket has decided to ransom off its hosting. Thus beginneth the migration...
longlivehumour: Levi - So ist es immer (levi)
[personal profile] longlivehumour
Given two W fics for the same fandom, I refuse to choose. Have both, and may they serve you well.

FANDOM: Attack on Titan
FIC LINK: wound deep in your chest, heartless
AUTHOR LINK: [personal profile] 100demons
RATING/WARNING(S): T | swearing, canon-typical violence
WIP?/WORD COUNT: Complete | 4,400
MAIN CHARACTERS: Levi, Hange Zoë, Erwin Smith

FIC SUMMARY: Be good or Levi will carve you up with his knives. Eat your greens or else Levi will come and cut your eyes out while you still breathe.

RECCER'S NOTES: A delightful, believable fic about Levi's early days in the Corps. (It also begins by quoting a Margaret Atwood poem, and how can you go wrong after that?) The language is vivid, precise, and humorous, and Levi and Hange's interactions are a thing of beauty.
Horse shit and sunrises.



FANDOM: Attack on Titan
FIC LINK: We Are The Lost, We Are The Hunters
AUTHOR LINK: [archiveofourown.org profile] PresquePommes
RATING/WARNING(S): G | Mild spoiler for the first episode of Season 2 (ch. 35)
WIP?/WORD COUNT: Complete | 2,700
MAIN CHARACTERS: Levi, Sasha Braus

FIC SUMMARY:
"He realizes very quickly that of all people he could have been lost in the forest with, Sasha Braus is, without a doubt, the most preferable."
Because if the 104th was a graduating class, Sasha is the one who'd be voted "Most Likely To Survive Under Extreme Circumstances," and everybody who writes this scenario seems to forget that the extent of Levi's wilderness survival skills is made evident by one simple statement:
"Look at all these big-ass trees."

RECCER'S NOTES: This fic made me crave more Sasha-and-Levi stories. There aren't any, of course, and this is hardly surprising since I'm not sure the two have even spoken in canon, but despite (or perhaps because of) how dissimilar they are, here they come together wonderfully. Sasha's voice in particular is a joy.
longlivehumour: "RKRPXZKRMTFRZ!" --Captain Haddock (haddock)
[personal profile] longlivehumour
FANDOM: Pokémon (anime)
FIC LINK: Venting
AUTHOR LINK: [archiveofourown.org profile] DeLiz
RATING/WARNING(S): G
WIP?/WORD COUNT: Complete | 3,000
MAIN CHARACTERS: Pikachu, Meowth, Ash

FIC SUMMARY:
Meowth and Pikachu got locked in a cupboard. Pikachu is unimpressed by this, but he's currently unimpressed by a lot of things, so that's normal. Meowth, being the wonderful friendly nemesis he is, decides this is a fact worth exploring.

You know, just for kicks.

RECCER'S NOTES: After a few hiccups, my laptop decided to keep on living after all. Hurray! (This was the monthly reminder to BACK UP YOUR SHIT, kids, brought you by CloseShaveINC.) Let's see if I can't catch up.

A cat, a cupboard, a very angry electric mouse. Meowth works well as the narrator; while essentially a decent person, he's also enough of an arsehole to thoroughly enjoy Pikachu's frustration. (And Meowth's narration means we don't need to hear Pikachu's words, because that would be... weird.)