gensplosion | Entries tagged with clever characters being clever

FANDOM: Marvel Cinematic Universe
FIC LINK: Alternatively
AUTHOR LINK:

16woodsequ
RATING/WARNING(S): General Audiences
WIP?/WORD COUNT: 103,312 words, complete
MAIN CHARACTERS: Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes

FIC SUMMARY:
After waking up 70 years in the future, Steve thought that dealing with his fraying emotions while trying to lead a group of misfit super heroes would be the worst of his problems.

That is until he's fighting a doppelganger version of himself who whispers three impossible words.
"Bucky... is... alive."

And then JARVIS has some interesting footage for him and Tony to see, and Steve soon finds himself doing something he never could have imagined; diving deep undercover in Hydra.

RECCER'S NOTES: A fix-it fic in which Steve and Tony become and stay friends, Bucky lands in a safe space, Hydra goes down hard, and everyone gets some much-needed therapy. all thanks to the canon Avenger's time travel snafu creating an alternate (and IMO much better) universe. This is a long one that you can settle into. There's action plot, and a whole lot of hurt/comfort involving Bucky rediscovering who he is. It's also the first in a series, so if you like it you can move right along into the next story.

longlivehumour

FANDOM: The Thick of It / BBC Sherlock
FIC LINK: Red Right Hand
AUTHOR LINK:

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

FANDOM: MCU / Thor
FIC LINK: Road to Nowhere
AUTHOR LINK:

Lise
RATING/WARNING(S): PG | spoilers for Thor: The Dark World
WIP?/WORD COUNT: Complete | 27,700
MAIN CHARACTERS: Loki, Thor, Frigga

FIC SUMMARY: When Loki turns up demanding Thor's help on a quest to retrieve the All-Mother from Valhalla, Thor isn't about to say no. But that doesn't mean he's forgotten anything, and what better time than a road trip through the backwaters of the universe for trying to talk things out?

RECCER'S NOTES: Loki and Thor are both very well written - Loki a genuinely twisty bitter bastard, albeit one who loves his mum, and Thor rather more intelligent than many people give him credit for, especially when it comes to his brother. The worlds they pass through are sometimes harmless, often horrifying, and always weird. Hopping across worlds like stepping stones on the way to Hel, and there is, as always in these stories, a catch...

thady

FANDOM: Harry Potter
FIC LINK: Pawn to C3.
AUTHOR LINK:

realmer06
RATING/WARNING(S): none
WIP?/WORD COUNT: one-shot | ~ 4,500 words
MAIN CHARACTERS: Lily Luna Potter, Ron Weasley

FIC SUMMARY: Teaching Lily chess started as a way to keep her occupied and out of everyone’s hair. It grew into much more than that.

RECCER'S NOTES: This is a great look at the familial relationship between Ron and Lily Luna. Love how Ron is so Ron, but grown-up. Love how we see Lily Luna through his eyes. It's great to see her growing, and I'm glad she has Ron to mentor her.

thady

FANDOM: Harry Potter
FIC LINK: A Lot to Learn.
AUTHOR LINK:

Realmer06
RATING/WARNING(S): PG-13 | none
WIP?/WORD COUNT: one-shot | ~10,700 words
MAIN CHARACTERS: Lorcan Scamander, Lysander Scamanader, Luna Lovegood, Rolf Scamander

FIC SUMMARY: Lorcan and Lysander couldn’t be more different. Lorcan loves the fact that his parents are Magizoologists, and is thrilled to be accompanying them to the Amazon Rainforest to track down a legendary dark spirit. Lysander is...less enthused.

RECCER'S NOTES: This is a wonderful look at two brothers and their relationship to each other, and to their parents. Love the realistic feel of their dynamic, and the plot was very engrossing.

dirty_diana

FANDOM: The Flash with Arrow cameos
FIC LINK: Zero-Sum Game
AUTHOR LINK:

Rokesmith
RATING/WARNING(S): Teen
WIP?/WORD COUNT: complete / 67 000 words
MAIN CHARACTERS: Barry Allen, Iris West, Caitlin Snow, Cisco Ramon, Joe West

FIC SUMMARY: Three months after the singularity, a wave of impossible robberies strikes Central City, and there is one obvious suspect: the Flash. But as Barry and his friends unite to track down the real culprit, they find themselves facing a dangerous new enemy in a pursuit that may cost them everything.

Post season 1.

RECCER'S NOTES: An epic, plotty imagining of what might have happened after the season one finale. If you spent the summer hoping Iris would finally get to be part of the gang, or wondering what DCU villains might make an appearance, this is the fic to scratch that itch. Plus: friendship and teamwork! So many feels.

thady

FANDOM: Torchwood
FIC LINK: Geek Gifts.
AUTHOR LINK:

adina_atl
RATING/WARNING(S): PG
WIP?/WORD COUNT: one-shot | ~ 7,750 words
MAIN CHARACTERS: Ianto Jones, Toshiko Sato, Jack Harkness

FIC SUMMARY: Tosh and Ianto bond over tech and their respective pasts. - Set first season.

RECCER'S NOTES:

Oh, I love Ianto and Tosh together. They just fit in a way the other characters on the show rarely do. I love how they interact here, bonding over their past and their relationship to Jack.

thady

FANDOM: Star Wars: Rebels/Star War Original Trilogy
FIC LINK: Hide Yourself for Me.
AUTHOR LINK:

musesfool |

musesfool
RATING/WARNING(S): G | none
WIP?/WORD COUNT: ~ 2,200 words
MAIN CHARACTERS: Ahsoka Tano, Leia Organa

FIC SUMMARY: Ahsoka won't teach Leia to use the Force, but she can teach her to hide herself within it.

RECCER'S NOTES:

This is a brilliant story featuring Ahsoka teaching Leia. Ahsoka is great here, and Leia too, very close to canon. And it makes so much sense. Awesome.

thady

FANDOM: Harry Potter
FIC LINK: Finding The Way Home.
AUTHOR LINK:

hiddenhibernian
RATING/WARNING(S): PG | none
WIP?/WORD COUNT: one-short | ~ 1,000 words
MAIN CHARACTERS: Helga Hufflepuff; Justin Finch-Fletchley

FIC SUMMARY: Being a Hufflepuff means you have to do things the hard way. It has its advantages, however...

RECCER'S NOTES:

This is a really cool and interesting character study. And lovely.
I love especially Helga's characterization, and how her work endures thoughout the centuries. Really, I'd love to read more about Helga.

thady

FANDOM: Marvel Cinematic Universe
FIC LINK: Closing the Circuit.
AUTHOR LINK:

AlchemyAlice
RATING/WARNING(S): PG-13
WIP?/WORD COUNT: novelette | ~ 14,500 words
MAIN CHARACTERS: team, ensemble

FIC SUMMARY: SHIELD's down, Captain America's AWOL, and on the whole, things are kind of FUBAR. On the other hand, Tony might have some semblance of a plan.

RECCER'S NOTES:

This was a great and believable story, about team-building and beginning friendships. The characterization was spot-on for me, and the interactions between the characters build from this.

The plot is paced well, and I like how all the strands come together.

thady

FANDOM: Harry Potter
FIC LINK: Bedside Manners.
AUTHOR LINK:

serpenscript | Fic-journal at IJ:

serpens_fic
RATING/WARNING(S): G | set partly during the seventh book
WIP?/WORD COUNT: one-shot | ~ 2,000 words
MAIN CHARACTERS: Poppy Pomphrey, Minerva McGonagall, Luna Lovegood

FIC SUMMARY: Poppy Pomfrey liked to sing. It was a little known secret, because although she indulged in singing quite frequently she very rarely gave anyone the chance to hear her sing. To put it kindly, she was tone deaf; to put it bluntly was to say she sounded like a hippogriff caught in a harpy's nest.

RECCER'S NOTES:

This is a wonderful character study of Poppy Pomphrey. I love the setting during the seventh book, love her friendships, and she is such an amazing character.

ozqueen

[* sly mod note: banner posts for May & June will be up this weekend, I promise! I'm so sorry for the delay; work has been crazy busy lately. Keep on gensploding, gensploders ♥ *]

FANDOM: MCU/Iron Man
FIC LINK: Almost No One Makes It Out
AUTHOR LINK:

atrata
RATING/WARNING(S): Teen
WIP?/WORD COUNT: Complete | 28,101
MAIN CHARACTERS: Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, James 'Rhodey' Rhodes

FIC SUMMARY: What would have happened if Tony hadn't been born filthy rich? A military AU.

RECCER'S NOTES:

This rec has been floating around my flist lately, though it's not a new fic. I haven't seen it posted here yet (?) so -- enjoy! This is a fabulous, gritty, well researched story. I'm very picky with my AUs and this is absolutely one of the best I have ever read. I love Tony and Pepper's friendship here (you can maybe read a little more into it, but affectionate friendship is pretty much the limit of it, and it's tagged as gen). The other details of the fic, including how Iron Man ends up fitting into the world, are wonderfully done.

thisbluespirit

FANDOM: Spooks (MI-5)
FIC LINK: Notes on an Exile
AUTHOR LINK:

delgaserasca
RATING/WARNING(S): G | None
WIP?/WORD COUNT: 2962
MAIN CHARACTERS: Malcolm Wynn-Jones, Colin Wells

FIC SUMMARY: "Before he leaves, Colin debates over whether or not to write a note."

For three months in 1998, Colin is sent to work at the Manchester office. Malcolm sends him tea.

RECCER'S NOTES: Wonderful, low-key but heart-warming* friendship piece for the two desk spooks, as Colin goes into exile and misses Malcolm. There are so many lovely little Spooks-y details in here (the Manchester officers wonder if Colin is a mole, peeling off the front of postcards, and tea, and bugs etc.), all on top of the delightful handling of the two and their friendship, as a briefly-referred-to incident from their past is explored and expanded, and then even a happy ending. Gosh. (Well, for the moment. It is Spooks, after all.)

* well, definitely heart-warming for Spooks at least...

thady

FANDOM: Protector of the Small
FIC LINK: the things you carry.
AUTHOR LINK:

dirgewithoutmusic
RATING/WARNING(S): PG | ( content notes )
WIP?/WORD COUNT: one-shot | ~ 6,300 words
MAIN CHARACTERS: Keladry of Mindelan; ensemble

FIC SUMMARY: After Kel breaks orders and invades Scanra to rescue her Haven civilians in Lady Knight, she is found guilty of treason in wartime.
She escapes with the help of friends and does the only thing Kel could ever conceive of doing in that instance-- she keeps fighting Tortall's war.
This is Kel, however; she is always willing to fight her battles alone, but people will always rise up to fight alongside her.

RECCER'S NOTES:

This is beautiful. I love the use of the language, descriptive and evocative. It captures the characters with few words, but they shine brightly.
Love Keladry here, never givin up. Learning and growing, and just so awesome.

thisbluespirit

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.

thady

FANDOM: Harry Potter
FIC LINK: Desk Duty.
AUTHOR LINK:

mosylu
RATING/WARNING(S): PG
WIP?/WORD COUNT: one-shot | ~ 1,900 words
MAIN CHARACTERS: Irma Pince, Dolores Umbridge

FIC SUMMARY: When she returned to the desk, she found her least favorite member of the faculty behind it, reaching for a drawer. - "I do believe," Madam Pince said in a voice that dripped icicles, "that this is my desk."

RECCER'S NOTES:

Because this is a great view on an seldom mentioned character. Because this a great view on the other things that happened during "Order of the Phoenix". Because it might just have happened like this.

thady

FANDOM: Marvel Cinematic Universe
FIC LINK: Infinite Coffee and Protection Detail - series.
AUTHOR LINK:

owlet
RATING/WARNING(S): PG-13
WIP?/WORD COUNT: series [two complete stories posted so far] | ~ 87,000 words
MAIN CHARACTERS: Bucky Barnes; Steve Rogers, team

FIC SUMMARY: The mission resets abruptly, from objective: kill to objective: protect.

RECCER'S NOTES:

There are two complete stories posted so far. You could read only one or the other, but it works better together. While there could be more, each story has an clear ending.

The first one depicts Bucky's reclamtion of himself from the Winter Soldier. I love how this is depicted, how it wars inside of him. Love also the humor that is spread throughout the story. It's hard work for him, so the humor is very much appreciated. He has some help though, the OCs are great!

The second story deals with Bucky's integration into the team. I love how he learns to connect with each of them, each in their own way.

espresso_addict

FANDOM: The Silver Branch by Rosemary Sutcliff (Eagle of the Ninth series)
FIC LINK: A Siren Call
AUTHOR LINK:

Riventhorn
RATING/WARNING(S): PG | none
WIP?/WORD COUNT: Complete | ~4,600 words
MAIN CHARACTERS: Honoria

FIC SUMMARY: Helping her great-nephews, Flavius and Justin, recalls a winter twelve years before when Honoria also found herself caught up in a rebellion.

RECCER'S NOTES:

The Silver Branch is the sequel to the better-known Eagle of the Ninth, following Marcus Aquila's descendants in Roman Britain. Honoria is one of several vivid minor characters, the elderly & idiosyncratic matriarch of the Aquila family. Riventhorn's characterisation of her is perfect, shrewd, proud, brusque yet loyal & loving in her own inimitable fashion, with a lovely dry humour. The story foregrounds friendships between women & the behind-the-scenes networking of Romano-Britain. There's an interesting & realistic original character, and she & all the major characters are women who have left their youth behind. Subjects touched upon include female aging & that fanfiction taboo the menopause -- without the slightest hint of issuefic. Apart from the frame, the story is set more than a decade before the novel opens, during an uprising against Rome's rule, and gives a window into a part of Romano-British history that Sutcliff doesn't cover. No canon knowledge is necessary.

thady

FANDOM: Stargate SG-1
FIC LINK: We're All Mad Here.
AUTHOR LINK:

staranise (story) |

tsukinobara (pod-fic)
RATING/WARNING(S): PG | clinical documentation
WIP?/WORD COUNT: one-shot | ~ 1,040 words
MAIN CHARACTERS: Original Characters

FIC SUMMARY: Not all the SGC's psychologists are stupid.

RECCER'S NOTES:

This is wonderful outsider!pov. Love the OC here, and I can believe in the problems they face.

thady

FANDOM: Captain America (Movies)/The Chronicles of Narnia
FIC LINK: I made myself when I was young.
AUTHOR LINK:

pprfaith
RATING/WARNING(S): PG-13
WIP?/WORD COUNT: one-shot | ~ 1,470 words
MAIN CHARACTERS: Peggy Carter, Susan Pevensie

FIC SUMMARY: In which neither Peggy nor Susan like the cold.

RECCER'S NOTES:

This is a wonderful little crossover, it works so very well. Love Peggy here, and her thoughts on Susan. Their friendship is very believable. Love the respect they have for each other. I would love to read more of them.

The Espresso Addict

Diary & multifandom recs

gensplosion!

Entries tagged with clever characters being clever

MCU: Alternatively by 16woodsequ

The Thick of It / BBC Sherlock: Red Right Hand, by jackmarlowe

MCU / Thor: Road to Nowhere, by Lise

Harry Potter: Pawn to C3, by realmer06.

Harry Potter: A Lot to Learn, by Realmer06.

The Flash: Zero-Sum Game by Rokesmith

TW: Geek Gifts, by adina_atl.

SW Rebels: Hide Yourself for Me, by victoria_p (musesfool).

HP: Finding The Way Home, by hiddenhibernian.

MCU: Closing the Circuit, by AlchemyAlice.

HP: Bedside Manners, by Serpenscript.

marvel/iron man: almost no one makes it out, by atrata

Spooks | MI-5: Notes on an Exile by delgaserasca

Protector of the Small: the things you carry, by dirgewithoutmusic.

Dick Francis's Sid Halley series: Turnabout by roseveare & Unbreakable by edonohana

HP: Desk Duty, by Mosylu.

MCU: Infinite Coffee and Protection Detail - series, by owlet.

Sutcliff's The Silver Branch: A Siren Call, by Riventhorn

SG-1: We're All Mad Here, by staranise & tsukinobara.

CA/Narnia: I made myself when I was young, by pprfaith.

The Espresso Addict