recs in other fandoms
stories are divided by fandom and consist mostly of slash. all links lead to works of fiction which may include sex, violence, homosexuality, borrowed fictional characters, and real people. navigation at top leads to separate pages for fandoms. "other fandoms" are: csi, csi:ny, the dark is rising, the fast and the furious, firefly, house, jay & silent bob, jeeves & wooster, king arthur, labyrinth, master & commander, rosencrantz & guildenstern are dead, pop slash, damon/affleck, pirates of the caribbean actorfic, olympic swimmers and other rps, the sentinel, sherlock holmes, smallville, and assorted others.
csi
the barbie conspiracy by caroline crane. pg; nick/greg established. funny, sweet, not long enough to get boring.
explosion by shosen. pg, pre-slash, nick/greg. just a tiny cute ficlet.
as life resembles, by caroline crane. it's post-ep, pg pre-slash, nick/greg, greg pov. shortish and serious.
something like instinct by nekosmuse, nc-17 first-time porn, n/g. sweet and, well, hot.
post-it by cinderlily, nick/greg pg fluff. fluffy and extremely cute. i liked the premise.
messy by sm, pg. short, kinda fluffy but surprisingly good.
adopting major arcana by buddy, pg. has a few errors, but is a great story. it seemed like this could be the canon version, you know? on the sweet side.
lover, won't you stay by esse, pg. greg believes in the magic of summer and gets tipsy--shortish and nice.
seven miles from the sun by esse. pg. possible spoilers, nick pov. very nice.
minor fifth: your flag on the marble arch by esse, pg, n/g, jacqui pov. "either throw the dog a bone or do a better job of convincing us all you're a cat lover."
klingon, by pinn. pg, n/g. just one short scene. humour, dealing with greg's geekiness.
the greg experience, by pinn. nick/greg, mentions of c/w and greg/sara. pg. mostly dialogue, humour, first-time, actually seems in character. cute.
parchment by neko's muse. n/g nc-17; a dreamy, lyrical, angsty first- and second-time and onward fic. pretty and easy to read and hot.
lover i don't have to love by dr foofoo. nick/greg. nc-17. a pwp with a bit of sweetness. surprisingly in-character, at least for nick, full of mesmerising imagery.
still is the unspoken word by helsinki baby. grissom/sara angst, s2-s3. grissom pov--some bad punctuation, good narrative voice, a little maudlin but believable.
almost close enough, by keija, warrick/catherine, pg. a slightly mushy quadruple drabble that i liked because i'm a sap. but it's no mushier than the show, actually.
csi: ny
christmastime in the city, by stellaluna. mac/danny, pg, established. this was a birthday present for me! and it's adorable danny narration and strikes exactly the right note for fluff, which is to say, sweet but not overly fluffy, and funny. it's an especially nice christmas story too, in my opinion.
the coastal shelf and art lessons, by stellaluna. mac/danny, pg. these two stories belong to a lighter universe of mac and danny, a rather sweet and fluffy one. danny point of view, and they both feature glimpses of our heroes' childhoods.
maintaining equilibrium, cherries in bloom and all my little words, by stellaluna, the sequels to "the coastal shelf" and "art lessons". pg - nc-17, mac's and then danny's points of view, mostly about this arc's first kiss in an exceptionally sweet and rather innocent way, and then their first time.
fall from grace, by stellaluna. mac/danny, r. a short ficlet set during "corporate warriors".
gas food lodging by stellaluna. stella pov; stella and danny; mac/danny ust, angst. stella and danny have multiple conversations on the interstate. excellent, brilliantly done in a variety of ways; great dialogue, mood and pacing, particularly. deals with events of tanglewood and references some other episodes.
light from a dead star and sunday morning coming down, by stellaluna. mac/danny, nc-17. "star" seems to exist in the same universe as "gas food lodging". angsty mac pov, a confrontation about tanglewood and the encounter that follows it, some flashbacks, and the connections mac almost doesn't draw between these things. doesn't resolve anything. poses just the beginning of a journey for a repressed mac with a lot of issues. "sunday" is the sequel from danny's point of view, and while it's still dark it lightens up somewhat. danny's not an entirely self-aware narrator, but the story's long and a lot of things that are clear to the reader aren't clear to him. his voice, his pov, are beautiful, and some of the place descriptions are incredibly beautiful. also, there's cuteness in this one.
merry gentlemen, by stellaluna. mac/danny, pg, futurefic, established relationship. this is another christmas piece, solemn and reflective, saturated with sweetness at a low level. it's kind of mellow, and their relationship is mellow but not without tension. the last scene is just exquisite.
momentum by stellaluna. danny/mac ust, danny pov, post-"tanglewood" (113). angsty and dramatic, and more or less a single scene, but nicely done and believable.
stupid bar tricks, by stellaluna. mac/danny pre-slash, pg. humour. a hilarious and utterly angst-free trip to a bar, from danny's pov. flack is pouty, stella and aiden are dangerous, mac is there wholly against his will: it is, in short, perfect. and danny's rather serious little voice is perfect.
the ten-cent adventure and the only living boy in new york, by stellaluna. stella-mac friendship, post-112 ("recycling"). the former is stella pov, the latter mac, and both brood on the course of their friendship.
the dark is rising
awakening 1 2 3, by ashura (/ashkitty). the dark is rising. will/bran, nc-17. i find will adorable and delightfully in character; the story is rather dramatic and a little sappy, but in a good way, because so is canon. contains some pretty, lyrical moments too. i could quarrel with the bran characterisation, however.
september song, the waiting game, shepherd's pipe carol, a plentiful waste of time, things that go bump in the night, by natalka. all inexplicit dark is rising will/bran, a series of short pieces--rather unique-feeling, a little mysterious, but pretty. probably over-angsty like so much of what one finds, but it's hard to argue with so satisfying a read. "the waiting game" is particularly striking and contains a good kiss.
half suite, by oddcellist. will/bran, pg. about two scenes long, angsty grown-up will pov, and a little lyrical.
alignment, by pares. will/bran, pg. just two short scenes, kind of moody, when will and bran have gone away to college and meet again for the first time. also, there's some tantalisingly cool magic. and a tiny, tiny bit of welsh.
protection, by sheldrake. pg. the dark is rising. will/bran. a little scene about remembering, vignettey, unresolved, but very evocative and well-characterised, kind of sweet.
the appointment, by sheldrake. pg. the dark is rising. will/bran. an odd little adult will scene, kind of angsty, turning out rather perfect though totally unresolved.
summer's men, by kestrel-san. pg. the dark is rising. will/bran. this is a sort of moody quiet futurefic, sort of angsty and saturated with nature imagery. it has an ending which i can believe in, but it calls up several themes without really going anywhere with any of them--i don't meant to imply that was an accident, only that it may be frustrating.
keeping a welcome, by gramarye. g. the dark is rising. will/bran pre-slash, if you squint. set immediately after the events of the grey king, but unexpectedly moving, rather powerful, not mushy, but it made me go "aww."
shared watch, by quiara. the dark is rising. bran/will, g. this one's perhaps a little facile, over-simplified, but it has something to say and it says it fairly well; it touches issues i think this fandom should touch. and it's at times pretty and a little sweet.
the fast and the furious
baja, by devil child. the fast and the furious, brian/dom, nc-17--a fairly believable sequel to the movie, macho and testosteroney, sexy. but loses points for the word 'soul.'
into the sunset by khaleesian. dom/brian, nc-17, a peaceful, slow-dance kinda post-movie story, a romance with a slow, sweet tightening and almost no anger or angst. and the memorable line when dom arrives in mexico, te curarás aquí.
highway 50 by khaleesian, dom/brian, pg, a self-styled deleted scene from the movie. neatly done, and nice enough to make me smile. pace is maybe a little slow, but has a nice cute confused thread running through with dom's pov.
R-E-S-P-E-C-T by khaleesian. nc-17 dom/brian established relationship smut, but not schmoopy. pwp.
the seeds of surrender by khaleesian. rated r. dom/brian. a tense, uneven one, initially sort of confusing, sort of angsty as it deals with inevitable issues from the movie. extremely hot but has some violence.
firefly
no exit by dae, mal/simon, kaylee/river, pg. a long standalone adventure piece.
safer, by juli. mal/simon. G, pre-slash, somewhat schmoopy.
fuzzy by eleanor k, mal/simon, pg. sweet, sort of... ducky. i mean, doesn't address any giant issues, doesn't have any giant plotty problems, isn't terribly angsty. possibly one could say it ignores some issues that you expect to come up with mal/simon. it's, well, simple and believable, i think, but it doesn't really take on the task of selling the pairing, if you know what i mean. um, i really enjoyed it though.
dangerous cargo by nestra, nc-17. simon/mal. good, sweet.
settlement by andromeda. mal/simon, simon pov, quiet and somewhat romantic futurefic. i like it now. who knows how i'll feel when i've seen more episodes?
like gravity by eleanor k is simon/mal and short and it made me laugh, but it's sweet.
day of the dead by amy. river, pg, no pairing. a halloween story in which river sees ghosts and no one knows what she's talking about--exquisite, feels perfect.
house, md
surcease, by cori lannam. house/wilson, pg, post-"detox." established. spot-on, quietly sweet, not a foot placed wrong anywhere.
maryland, by shalott. house/wilson, pg, first-time. really good. tense. excellent dialogue and characterisation.
pathogenesis and intervention by shalott. house/wilson established, r. it's basically an original episode, with slash. and it's funny and very good.
a sense of aesthetics, by wintertime. house/wilson, pg. clever and humourous wilson pov.
tumor, by wintertime. house/wilson, pg. wilson pov on an angsty day and a conversation with house. nice dialogue.
jay & silent bob
words' worth, by ren, pg, is jay pov, probably a bit off, horribly oozily fluffy-sweet. i was in a mushy mood.
sweet, by ren, nc-17. for some reason, i found myself really exactly visualizing it all.
do you see what i see? by ren, pg, fluffy christmasfic, bethany pov.
a random jay/silent bob ficlet by
unpacking your bags, by starla, set during dogma, spoiler-free, r, not necessarily to be regarded as slash. really, really freaking hilarious. i almost want a cigarette, in that oh-god-those-things-are-so-repulsive manner.
the idiot kings, by starla; pg. the title's pretty cool. and there's some cool scenes too. i give it an 80 out of 100.
a funny thing happened on the way to the strip club, by deadgrrl. pg. absolutely fuckin hilarious, but spoilers for dogma. really don't read it if you haven't seen it. it will decrease your enjoyment.
where there's smoke, by deadgrrl, pg. hilarious, absolutely freakin' hilarious. a bit of spoilers for dogma; set during the movie. jay has a conversation with the metatron. you can visualize every word. her dialogue is brilliantly spot-on.
hands on experience, by deadgrrl, nc-17. set during dogma, first-time sweet and funny pwp, quite believable.
connections 1, 2, 3, 4, by deadgrrl. nc-17 first-time. sweet. not a pwp. suffers from random insertion of various people into the story; meanders about, longer than it needs to be; but really hysterically funny, with some of the best and most memorable jay-dialogue i've encountered.
sweet dreams, by kelandris. Nc-17 and nearly pure porn. it's nice porn, though, and it's sweet and believable and warm-fuzzy. sadly, it doesn't have humorous dialogue. i guess you can't have everything.
gin-soaked boy by kelandris. quite enjoyable if you ignore the lyrics. this chick has a thing for songfic. however, i'd say she's second best in the fandom. she doesn't have deadgrrl's grip on character voice, though.
fire burn, by kelandris. pg. oh, my god, the CUTENESS of this high-school story--back when silent bob was bobby. it's really stuck with me. it's not that long, rather poignant, not that funny--serious still, and angsty, like kel does. however, it's set in the past, which separates it somehow; and it's very good, so i am going to rec it. again, ignore the lyrics.
the razors, ribbons and silk trilogy by kelandris: razors, ribbons, and the sharp edge in the silk. this series is, first off, EXCELLENT. it's also sweeping. i'm going to call it an serious!AU--gritty, a little desperate and sad, but wholly believable, although it was written, apparently, before jay and silent bob strike back. it covers their meeting (ages sixteen and twenty) and their whole history from bob's point of view, and while bob isn't quite who he is in canon, and jay isn't quite who HE is in canon, it's beautiful and believable. perhaps i should say it approaches original fiction.
jeeves & wooster
my man jeeves, by sue. jeeves/bertie wooster, pg. oh, oh, yay. this is a delightful, nearly though not wholly unflawed first-time story. tense and sweet, it reduced me to a puddle of goo no less than four times. four, i tell you! mmmmm. bertie has lent jeeves to an aunt for a week.
jeeves and the forbidden vice, by ac chapin. jeeves/wooster, pg. not really believable in premise, but the dialogue is good, the tone is an excellent approximation of the canon, and the whole thing is cute and a bit warm-fuzzy. shorter than the previous one. jeeves has been match-making.
jeeves and the understanding, by timerryn. j/w, pg. this one's also adorable, and also not really believable. jeeves is not so easily rattled, and wouldn't have been so familiarly sharing bertie's birthday dinner and port in the first place, ten to one. but he certainly isn't capable of being discomposed in that way. however, it's a delightful story in which bertie is unsurprisingly clueless, but surprisingly figures out, in a flash of blinding certainty, that he and jeeves are in love with each other. things proceed logically into some cute dialogue.
thank you, sir, by timmerryn. j/w, r. this one is longish, established-relationship, and less credible than any of the others. jeeves is repeatedly at a loss--ridiculous! and bertie seems to intelligent. sentimentality and improbably improper behavior on the part of jeeves are not entirely absent. included in the face of all these faults because it's warm and fuzzy, and for the most part the dialogue isn't bad.
one and two parts of an untitled by katherine f aka puritybrown. j/w, pg. in the form of correspondence. jeeves is perhaps more forthcoming than might be expected; his voice is hard to pin. bertie is spot-on, in a particularly striking way. i was much struck, and moved, too. i'm feeling highly susceptible, or else it's something about the pairing. this one made me tear up. first-time. jeeves is on an unexpectedly long holiday.
as virtuous men pass, by torch, j/w, pg. really funny, although bertie's narrative voice is notably off. not really first-time; more slashy than slash. but more credible than some others in that it stays funny and doesn't descend to sentimentality, and that bertie remains clueless.
beard, by torch. j/w, pg. an absolutely exquisite piece of humor with wistfulness thrown in. bertie is forced to play at santa as part of a scheme to get someone to sell a silver soup tureen. a bit melty, but in that startling way--more like the heart gives a sudden leap. an unexpected lance of sweetness in a story that cannot possibly be accused of being overly sweet. the narrative voice is irreproachable.
cornette's twelve pager, by careena. r. also stephanie bing/bobbie wickham. this one has the best woosterian plot i've yet encountered in the fanfic, though it's by no means as convoluted as one can usually expect from a genuine wodehouse. it's also an adorable first time, and the narrative voice is entertaining and very good although not flawless. jeeves is pretty far out of character after a while, but by that point i didn't care so much.
jeeves lends a hand by jane davitt, rated r. it's adorable, though i have trouble buying such a clueless bertie.
wooster's school for wayward girls, by yahtzee, jeeves/wooster. florence craye and madeleine basset are inspired by reading sappho.
jeeves and the blessed indiscretion, by shalott, pg. the story is charming and adorable, if one accepts a few premises which are perhaps not entirely supported in canon--like a jeeves off his game, and an unsual degree of competence from bertie. the voice is pretty good.
the case of spode, by peak in darien. jeeves/wooster, pg. this is a rather cute short story sort of set up like a genuine jeeves & wooster short story, cute and quite entertaining narrative voice. if you're desperate for more slash about these two, definitely read it--though as is often the case with this pairing, the behaviour of the principals just stretches suspension of disbelief too far.
king arthur (2004)
negotiation, by guede mazaka. nc-17, a/g/l, post-movie au. (i didn't notice that it was au until the end, actually). no spoilers, that i noticed. it's a guinevere-and-lancelot-hate-each-other story! and it's PORN. pretty hot porn too.
an untitled by EmilyBored. pg-13, set during the movie with some spoilers. stabs right at the hearts of the themes--of the movie and of the ot3 interpretation of its canon. characterization striking if not flawless. incredibly vivid.
resurgam by guede mazaka. spoilers! nc-17, arthur/guinevere/lancelot--doesn't gloss over, but is nonetheless a moving picture.
solace by calichan. spoilers. pg. arthur/guinevere, arthur/lancelot. a pretty good story, but i'm not sure how i feel about its interpretation of the events of the movie.
wolfskin, by guede mazaka. nc-17, in multiple parts. arthur/lancelot, gawain/tristan/galahad, and arthur/lancelot/guinevere. novella length fantasy AU. pretty darn cool.
labyrinth
a labyrinth ficlet by thia, pg, to get us used to the idea with a sure-handed experienced writer. mm, david bowie... even if those pants are just terrible.
and the thunder rolled, by edmondia dantes. dark and messily done, but with a kernel of idea which i feel is good. people say about fic like this that it's exploring the darker implications of something or other; usually when they say this what they mean is that someone has written a horror au and tried unsuccessfully to cram it into the source universe. however, the labyrinth universe does have some very dark echoes in the descent myth, and although i balked a bit at first, i decided that this one is really quite believable.
the enticement, by scattered logic. there's sex in it. i can't remember if it's nc-17 or r. anyway, it's the most harlequiny of all, because it's set all modernly, in the real world, and involves being snowed in in a cottage, and a lot of those scenes of realizing that you really like someone, and that it wasn't his fault he was an asshole and that kind of thing. sappy, sentimental, glorious trash; it's separated from harlequins by being much better-executed. for what it is, in fact (i believe the sap is inherent), it's very good and quite enjoyable. although after you read it you may want a something salty or sour to wash away the taste.
a little place of forgetting by velviet. pg-13, a missing scene, which you don't see a lot of. it works in the movie and makes the movie more interesting, in my view.
do you want to play a game? by aisuru is the only humor(parody)fic i've yet encountered, and it made me laugh out loud. a lot. just really, really really funny.
master & commander
surprise, by cruisedirector. aubrey/maturin, pg, not entirely explicit. s.m. pov, movie canon, when he's recovering from bullet wound infection. spoilers.
reverie, by cruisedirector. a/m, m pov, nc-17. still set during recovery, though i don't think this is a sequel. sweet, first-time with that flavor of established relationship that you get from these two, and yet not without angst. it's just a little hint of it, and makes the sweetness sharper for its wistfulness.
the isle is full of noises, by communicator, a/m, a pov, nc-17. during m's recovery on the galapogos a has a hard time sleeping. it's poetic and sweet, simple in concept, but complex and flavorful, angsty, wistful and tragic and loving at the end.
twilight of the gods, from the gunroom here, uncredited. g, friendship fic, angst and joy, wistful, broody. very nice atmosphere, very very sweet despite how gen and not-slashy it is.
undertow, by cori lannam. a/m, pg, m pov. has a distinct book-feel. very short. cute. slash is really largely implicit.
sounding, by hossgal. a/m, a pov, movie canon. deep angst. funky, a little hard to follow.
following orders, by pun. a/m, m pov, pg. movie canon--and maturin is fierce and assertive and aubrey a little bemused. really hot.
the butcher's bill, by tiffany rawlins. a/m, r, angst, no specific spoilers. a and m discuss war and don't discuss what they mean to one another. good, of course sweet, but rather depressingly serious.
weather, by cruisedirector, a/m, r, 200 word double drabble, sweet, a little wistful, sweet again. too short but very nice nonetheless. i smiled.
fortune-teller, by graycastle. a/m, r. not set at a fixed point in canon. not spoilery. some banter, and humor, and sex--rather tender.
the captain's options, by keiko. a/m, m pov, r. no particular time-setting or spoilers, just an innocent bit of debating the outlets available to sexually frustrated sailors at sea. is rather sweet, as this pairing tends to be. excellent narrative and character voice, which goes a long way even though the story's not perfect.
three ways to end an acquaintance, by shalott. a/m, pg. both povs, three separate aus diverging from a duel--angst, a death.
preservation, by shalott. pg, a/m, book canon hms surprise, spoilerish. a short little ficlet, merely a single scene of maturin's brooding on his vulnerability. aching, bittersweet--particularly at the end.
played in tune, by shalott, is no slashier than the movie, which is to say, as slashy as possible without being explicit. in fact, it could have come straight from canon. a scene missing from the movie after their quarrel, beautifully sweet, jack pov.
adagio, by shalott. a/m, r, set immediately after the movie. a beautifully sweet first-time that really doesn't feel like a first time--and you can't blame it, since their relationship feels so very established in canon. it's sweet and charming and very well-written and characterized. beyond that it's prettily put together in theme and tempo and all comes together exquisitely. a remarkably fine story.
physic, by shalott, a/m nc-17. she says herself there's no excuse for it: a very short snippet of what's essentially smut, with a naughty feel. and vastly amusing.
the undiscovered ocean, by shalott, a/m, r. book-canon at a vague, mid-series point, says the author. this was sharp, beautiful and bittersweet and poignant. it pricked me astonishingly hard with pain midway through, and ended all still bittersweet though not unhappy, but the pain lingered through the realness. longish (46 k) and oh, absolutely gorgeous.
five things that never happened to aubrey and maturin: one: invasion, by shalott. a/m, pg. napoleon invades england. very good, a bit solemn.
five things that never happened to aubrey and maturin: two: listening, by shalott. a/m/sophie/diana and combinations thereof, r. jack happens to overhear something he doesn't like. funny, rather hot.
five things that never happened to aubrey and maturin: three: all the wonder, by shalott. a/m, r. aubrey and maturin in space! a shockingly adorable, gleeful, cute, lively space opera. light-hearted and excellent.
five things that never happened to aubrey and maturin: four: consolation, by shalott. a/m, r. short. but very nice.
five things that never happened to aubrey and maturin: five: the world turned upside down, by shalott. a retrovirus switches a good percentage of the world population's genders. a & m get married and have kids. surprisingly excellent, the genderswap surprisingly palatable. very long.
prizes over discovery, by keiko. a/m, nc-17. a brilliant, beautiful, wonderfully characterized first-time story, long and meaty.
prizes over discovery ii, by keiko. a/m, nc-17. they continue their relationship on land and at sea and learn to make a habit of it. sadder.
prizes over discovery iii, by keiko. a/m, nc-17. sadder than the others--long, with a beautiful kind of bleakness and a sort of calm and still atmosphere. takes place largely in spain.
the glass portrati, by keiko. a/m, pg. the sweetest late-in-life established-relationship story imaginable. it's incredibly sweet and real and calm and warm and fuzzy. just beautiful and adorable.
laudanum dreams by enkanowen, nc-17 pwp, sweet.
an introductory tidbit by stungunbilly, pg. short and amusing, with excellent voice and book-feel. and cute. hee.
devil's deal, by lenore. jack/stephen. r. no mention is made of wives. a criminal kidnaps them and isolates them for a time from the rest of the world. well-characterized, sweet and a wee bit bitter.
the curious nature of friends and sweethearts, by zoso. pg. a/m. irresistably sweet and cute.
the edge of the doldrums, by miss izzy. j/s, pg. a quiet scene in the middle of a quiet night when the ship is nearly unmoving in the doldrums.
as luck would have it, by aja. j/s, pg, pre-slash. a ficlet about luck. and an albatross, and how valuable stephen is to jack. sweet.
prince of tennis
for more prince of tennis fic (that i enjoyed, but haven't recommended here for a variety of reasons), check my del.icio.us links. the stories there are categorised by length, pairing and a few other tags, but for the most part linked without comments. (i'm eventually going to do this with other fandoms as well.)
tezuka/ryoma
before you repent, by achiasa. tezuka/ryoma, r. ryoma point of view, supremely angsty futurefic about a breakup and a long period of separation. everybody in the comments to this story says that they cried, which isn't surprising in the least - it's meticulously thorough and pulls no punches, wringing every bit of angst out of its plot. it's strikingly, breath-holdingly dramatic and painfully beautiful at points as well. ryoma's narration is matter-of-fact and weary, quietly heartbroken in a way that's entirely in character and all too believable. even when he's being fairly stupid, his longing for tezuka is palpable.
facing forward, by achiasa. tezuka/ryoma, pg. this story is almost meaningless without context, which is sad because it's a really lovely piece of future fic, preslash, in which tezuka meets ryoma again at a tennis camp in america. tezuka's restrained narration, when well-done, is always a joy to read, but it's his view of ryoma's much more telling reactions that i find so striking, because he doesn't comment explicitly on them, but it's all in what he doesn't say, but you know that he's thinking. the sequel, becoming one, is a short piece set another couple of years after that, almost a vignette, but long enough to put a nice cap on the whole thing. the sense of familiarity between them, the tennis, the net!kissing... there are many good elements.
seventeen, by achiasa. tezuka/ryoma, pg. mischievous fuji matchmakes on tezuka's 17th birthday. of course, fuji has thought of everything, and his dialogue is great. ryoma's reactions are delightfully spot-on too, and the humour of the whole situation is heightened by tezuka's deadpan. short and sweet, no tennis content.
everything that falls, by aja. tezuka/ryoma, r. this is a lovely piece of futurefic that feels painfully saturated with tightly-controlled quiet angst; the point of view is tight and deeply immersed in the narrating character's mind. the mood is exquisite, and the story feels both shorter than it is (10,000 words) and quite sweeping and comprehensive (since it actually covers several years after the end of the canon it is based on). and the giant american tennis tournament where most of the action takes place isn't the us open, for once, but an american-japanese goodwill tournament.
shinkokyuu, by ayatsujik. tezuka/ryoma, pg. a short, spare and understated, tense and beautiful piece. the tezuka here has left tennis. there is a lot of sadness here in tezuka's tight control, and ryoma's determination and uncertainty and hope are kind of painful, but it all comes together elegantly and beautifully.
matchmaker, matchmaker, by chasing whispers. tezuka/ryoma, pg. this is actually pre-slash, and it's ryoma's pov; and the former is quite common, but the latter is a bit rare. this is breathtakingly well-done: the moods are so palpable i almost see them in colours over the fic; when ryoma goes breathless i stopped breathing too, and the end felt like a tiny little revelation. also, i love fuji.
letters from echizen, by garlandgraves. tezuryo-flavoured gen, post-anime canon. perfectly timed humourous epistolary fic, and the voice is perfect - the concept of letters from ryoma is already hilarious by itself, and this delivers. and then it gets even better. all the letters (well, almost) are to tezuka, and there's more in what's left up to the reader's imagination than in the text. the whole thing is lovely.
tall grass, new cut by garlandgraves. tezuryo-ish gen, futurefic, set at wimbledon. this is incredibly satisfying to read. it rings very true to canon, it resonates with so many tezuryo themes and moments from canon, and it's aching with subtext and so well-done, simply delightful.
manipulation, by kish t'rethya. tezuka/ryoma, fuji, pg. an excellent short romantic comedy and completely hilarious. this is one of those stories that's a pairing story on the surface, but somehow mainly leaves me thinking rhapsodically about how much i love fuji. that said, the pairing in it is really wonderful too, and in fact, the whole thing is just hilarious.
sensation, by kish t'rethya. tezuryo, pg. this is a short set of interlinked drabbles, one for each of the five senses--concise and effective and kind of cute. i love ryoma's matter-of-fact narration.
choice 1 & 2 by ria. tezuka/ryoma, pg. a subtle and solemn futurefic from tezuka's point of view, dealing sensitively with his passions for tennis and ryoma and his relationship with his father. the mood and the narration are exquisite, and they mingle excellently with little bits of humour in written extracts from correspondence and appearances by fuji. usually i am bored or put off by established relationship stories; this is that rare creature, an established-relationship story that truly has something to say about that relationship as well as something to say about something else, and says them with an elegantly unified theme and voice. the overall impression is powerful and satisfying. as a final note, i don't think any familiarity with canon is truly necessary to understanding and enjoying the story, although it could be beneficial; the events take place probably ten years or so in the future and there aren't too many references to deal with.
strings, by ria. tezuka/ryoma. a spare tezuka-pov first time made out of 5 drabbles. i always admire the ability to create a plot with so few words, but tezuka's narration works extraordinarily well for that.
playing grown ups 1 & 2 by soundczech. tezuka/ryoma, pg. a long, well-characterised, engaging and totally believable story about the three years of high school, bridging the gap between canon and adulthood. the start of the relationship is almost gradual, and fascinating, and the quiet angst of the pov character is skilfully written into the structure and the spare style. aside from the narrator's seriousness, though, the story is not sad; it's hopeful and touched with affection and nostalgia.
a lack thereof, by two if by sea. tezuka/ryoma, nanjiroh. this story is mostly from the point of view of ryoma's bizarre asshole of a dad: a freaky, funny, brilliant character. it's about ryoma and his dad and about ryoma and tezuka and it's understated and engaging and funny and a little bit complicated and sweet and matter-of-fact and just, in my opinion, really cool and full of genius.
momoshiro/kaidoh
i am the walrus, by halrloprillalar. momoshiro/kaidoh, pg. a nice, longish piece from momoshiro's point of view that really seems to capture his amusing and rather charming simplicity, the competitive relationship with kaidoh and his confusion over his complicated feelings there. there is some of the most exquisite and adorable description of confused adolescent arousal in this fic that i have ever read.
bus stop, wet day, by garlandgraves. momoshiro/kaidoh, pg. this is a tiny ficlet with a lot of fighting in it that could have come straight from canon, and something about the kaidoh point of view seems almost stunningly right.
a team of experts, by soundczech. momoshiro/kaidoh, pg. a hilarious and completely delightful momokai story in which momo asks eiji and ryoma for advice about dating boys, and practically every new thing that happened made me bounce with glee. hilarious from beginning to end. practically perfect.
inui/kaidoh
measures of time, by aaincognito. inui/kaidoh, pg. this is satisfyingly long, moving without being mushy and quite subtle. the inui point of view is good and it's frequently funny, especially in the beginning, when he's stolen tezuka's gay purple shirt as a disguise to spy on fudomine.
pursuit, by aaincognito. inui/kaidoh, pg. a tiny ficlet in which a inui follows a girl following kaidoh and explains his own calculations about romantic approaches.
3.1415926535 stories about inui sadaharu, by prillalar. inui/various, pg. this is exactly what it sounds like, and it's really the most brilliant idea ever, which you probably realise immediately if you know anything about inui.
good for the soul, by halrloprillalar. inui/kaidoh, pg. this is a short, slightly sweet and really hilarious ghost story. i'm trying to think of a way it could be better, and i can't come up with anything. also, no knowledge of the series at all should be necessary to enjoyment. it barely even mentions tennis.
time travel for beginners, by halrloprillalar. inui/kaidoh, pg. a story in which kaidoh actually collects data for inui, which besides being hilarious has got to be a sign of true love. this story is kind of perfect. and pretty short.
golden pair
simple gifts (special golden power remix x 5) + BONUS TRACK, by halrloprillalar. golden pair. five unrelated ficlets about the golden pair which vary from g to nc-17 and include one in which they're vampires and one in which they're austen characters, a couple that are really sweet and one which is much more serious and angsty. but they are all very good.
one life, by pixxers. golden pair, pg, futurefic, angst. a short scene from eiji's point of view with a whole story suggested behind it, this is angsty but ultimately uplifting.
way of life, by liz starsky. golden pair, g. totally inexplicit and solemn little vignette about love and support, kind of; it doesn't refer to canon, but it's well-done and i think it captures something about the pairing and is pensive and evocative.
other pairings
trickster, by kish t'rethya. taka/fuji, g. a cute story in which fuji isn't exactly sure what to do and eiji is determined to make something happen.
full dress, by halrloprillalar. inui/yanagi, pg. a tiny and wonderfully, inexpressibly great and hilarious little ficlet. every detail seems exactly right. and also really, really funny.
running into the sun, by sioniann. inui/yanagi pre-slash, pg. the expanded story of inui and yanagi's trip to hawaii. this story is exquisite, almost achingly sweet, and it's bittersweet in a way - from the vantage of canon - but all the bitterness is implied in the space left over, a space which is only very carefully hinted at throughout the story. all the little details are deftly chosen; every little snapshot scene seems perfect. i can't think of any way this story could be better; i just wish there were a lot more of it.
type slowly, by marksykins. inui/fuji, pg. this is great inui point of view - his careful analysis and his logical narration and the way fuji flusters him. the dialogue is particularly great.
thunderstorms, by kish t'rethya. fuji and yumiko, gen. a little introspective fuji character study, fascinating and kind of sweet and kind of moving.
sleeping habits, by becchan. atobe/jiroh, preslash, g. this is some excellent and very funny atobe-voice, and the whole thing is very fluffy and cute and harmless. jiroh is atobe's roommate and has a habit of falling asleep on his bed.
counterfeits by orpheneritus. atobe/jiroh, preslash. g. a short, funny little ficlet from atobe's point of view.
just playing around, by kish t'rethya. oshitari/gakuto, pg. light humour and a short story of great gakuto pov. very cute and sweet.
rosencrantz & guildenstern are dead
thought processes, pg, by bastet. movie canon. cute and fluffy. and sweet. and very nice.
rosencrantz and guildenstern are united by anieve. pg. baby!ros & guil are already true to their latter form. and it's really cute. hehheh.
canadian shack #42, by jessica. not sure how i feel about this--it's not really so slashy, and it doesn't add much to canon, except to make explicit some things that didn't necessarily need it. but it did make me giggle a few times.
rosencrantz and guildenstern are... very much alive, actually, by mainecoon, pg, is an alternate, slash ending of the play--last scene, approximately; makes use of stoppard's dialogue.
love and rhetoric by arrhae, pg, makes use of some stoppardish things, but she's actually made them up herself. and it deals with that pulling-meaning-out-of-a-person thing. it's shortish and rather sweet and not really out of character, though i also don't think it rings quite right.
i know you, by bastet. rosencrantz/guildenstern, nc-17, smutty but not without characterization or snappy dialogue. very cute.
rps: nsync and popslash
guerrillas, an unfinished nsync au by helen. chris/jc and justin/joey. popular with reason. they're tough. they fight military dictatorships. in some south american place.
tick tock time, by silvia. chris/justin. pg. waiting.
ledischka, proschai, and a coda, by amber. chris/justin. nsync au (russian revolution). nc-17. some things transcend class, fear, hate, innocence, ...and time.
bury me deep and in silence, by wax jism. chris/justin. nc-17. post-mini-apocalypse. no, i'm joking. it's the mother of all "gone" fics, written before any of the others. amazing anyone else had the temerity to write one, on reflection. thanks to sil for reminding me of how much they rock.
end game, by ms. storyteller. jc/lance. he never expected things to come to a head. they do, fast.
precision/power, by schuyler. justin/chris. nc-17. au: golf. don't ask. oh, with the cuteness! meltingly sweet and fluffy.
till the sun breaks down, a suite of short-shorts which are more like chapters of a longer story, by the great silvia. chris/justin. after an apocalyptic earthquake, everything is broken and nothing is real. i can't do it justice like this. let me just say: ouch. (that was a good ouch.)
even odd out, fold, and endgame, by amber. jc/chris. regency england au (so not particularly nsync, actually). jc's dealing with an expert gambler. bet gone wrong?
ii, a series, also by amber, also jc/chris. jc's double drops into their laps from a universe where they're not famous. second chance, first, or some bizarre combination of the two? funny and touching.
the same inside, by helen. chris/joey. chris turns into a girl and it's kind of cool.
the way you do it, also by helen. chris/jc. it's all very casual, and it's really sort of an accident. brilliantly understated everything, and sparkling humor.
the trouble with love is, by oneko briar. britney spears/justin timberlake, britney/christina. r. popslash. femme. i don't read a lot of femme in popslash, but i really, really liked this. liked brit. shortish, a bit disorienting.
choreography, by amatia. britney spears/wade robson. a short playful little snip, very well-done. ::giggle::
a snip by carleen. britney/christina. pg, femme. just a cute little thing.
an untitled olsen twincest by inked. mary-kate/ashley olsen real person slash. r. short, sensual, just all around very nicely done. and then there's the whole idea of it being so wonderfully evil. so. here you are.
and then you wake up, by bc. timbertrick, pg. it's a sweet innocent story, from the pov of baby!justin.
bubblegum, by cappucino. timbertrick, nc-17 highschool au. also lance/jc. sweet. the timbertrick is occasionally uncomfortable; the jc/lance is really pretty.
can't believe my way back when, by kel. timbertrick, pg, partially futurefic. well put together, thoughtful, sort of rambling, switching pov and tenses. intelligent.
a holiday fic by lise. timbertrick, pg, joey pov. warmfuzzy, funny, good dialogue.
been you before, by steph. timbertrick, pg. a justified story, justin pov, with a sort of wistful sad tone throughout, but, thank god, a happy end.
one less thing on my mind, by smartlikejustin. britney/christina, justin pov, voyeurism! nc-17. not really angsty or happy. sort of amusing. pretty, very atmospheric and visual.
gone without a word, by dale, britney pov, b/fe, b/justin, nc-17. short. the whole idea of brit/fe is amusingly subversive, right? this is all depressed and moody and sulky.
captured, by aeonian. mary-kate/ashley olsen. r. mk pov, long and angsty, somewhat involvedly neurotic, very good. sweet.
the girl can drink by jericho. aj/howie bsb slash. aj turns into a girl. aj/howie. a pretty good story.
rps: matt damon/ben affleck
flight, by cathy. ben affleck/matt damon, nc-17. almost one thousand words, all structured in haiku. it walks a narrow line between poetry and story, lyrical and still set up in sentences, and is well-written and very pretty.
second calling, by francesca de sales. ben affleck/matt damon, nc-17. this story is noteworthy as established relationship fic that isn't boring, and is sweet (even slightly fluffy) without being sickening.
buttons, flies and leather, and other odds and ends, by la joconde. ben affleck/matt damon, nc-17. a rather humourous and sexy little scene with almost no angst.
telephone by la jaconde and the other end of the line by francesca de sales. ben affleck/matt damon, pg, ben and matt povs respectively. the second is a remix of the first, and is quite long and seems carefully, even exquisitely constructed--angsty but very tense. the first is a drabble.
five things that never happened to matt damon, by lardencelover. ben affleck/matt damon, nc-17. there's some sweet established relationship, some porn, some first-time, and some quite well-done angst in these.
the last resort by sinistral. ben affleck/matt damon, pg. a kind of sweet fic permeated with friendship, and a bit of angst.
rps: pirates of the caribbean actorfic
tattoos, scars, not without my effects, by mlh. johnny depp/orlando bloom. r. dreamy and steamy tense little snippets--and getting tenser.
an untitled by mlh (she may've titled it by now--'s what i get for reading fic in community archives). johnny/orlando. nc-17. a sweet old-fashioned romance with an eager tongue-tied orlando and a somewhat mysterious, alluring johnny. cute. a fun, comfy, fluffy read, of a nice length.
smoke signals, by thoughtsappear. johnny depp/orlando bloom/keira knightley, pg. an arty, intriguing little mood piece. (just moved from potc section where last time it was mistakenly placed.)
ridicule is nothing to be scared of, by lady moonray. johnny depp/orlando bloom. pg. just an amusing little snippet, really. but intriguing, in the sense that i'm drawn into this rps universe, wondering: what next?
rum, by lady moonray. johnny/orlando, pg. hilarious. johnny spends an evening in character. apparently he's genuinely fond of rum.
yallume, by finduilas. johnny depp/orlando bloom. nc-17. this one, written some time before the last rec, is less experienced, less polished, a bit clumsy--nicknames thrown around oddly, some hard-to-follow jumps. but it's still good, and it's very sweet and just a little lyrical.
sleep it off and sequel, by finduilas. johnny depp/orlando bloom. pg. an intriguing little solemn piece with a bit of sexual tension. and not without cuteness, either.
the beat, by sphinx. johnny depp/orlando bloom. pg. overstylized little crazyfic, but with some real potential, and a wistful tinge.
noir, by prodigette. johnny/orlando, pg. orlando paints johnny's nails and there is ust. very short.
no promises, by rhysenn. johnny/orlando. pg. sweet with an angsty edge. johnny pov. both of these are unusual. a very nice piece, not too short, though just one scene. of actors and acting, and the last cherry, which orlando may let johnny have.
toccata, by veuki. johnny/orlando, johnny/orlando/jack davenport(ie norrington), j.d. pov. nc-17. a sweetly awkward and very uncomfortable jack, feeling shut out and confused. the dialogue was particularly striking.
reprise, by zarah. johnny/orli, pg. poor orli doesn't like being liked for his looks (which is easily believable, and quite convincing). lyrical and pretty. a little confusing/confused, in that purposeful way. a little contralamontre mouthful.
bent but not broken, by julie. johnny depp/orlando bloom, pg. orlando pov, first person, a little bit sad, a little bit mushy.
humorous, by one-eyed moorsey. johnny/orlando, pg. just a cute funny little thing, but understated and in that respect superior to the majority of this pairing.
hammerhead by eliyah (aka woodcliff aka lily gilding). johnny/orlando, pg. orlando pov. quirky, sassy, and delightful. light but not (entirely) lightweight. orlando floats on his back and johnny swims laps and is eccentric.
rps: olympic swimmer slash
the greek song by Days Like This, r, ian thorpe/pieter van den hoogenband: a bit lyrical and maybe a bit stylized but not silly.
sound of settling by anna, r, established. ian/pieter. sweet and lethally cute. somewhat schmoopy, obviously.
ian and pieter: a pictoral love story, by trin. pg, image-heavy, really funny.
that river in egypt by cherusha, nc-17, ian/pieter. kind of cheesy, but funny and hot and sweet.
superstar, by anna. ian thorpe/pieter van den hoogenband established, rated r. cute and adorably fluffy.
exception to the rule by itsuki, r, thorpe/vdh. sweet, hopeful, unconsummated.
tapering by trin. r. ian thorpe/pieter van den hoogenband olympic slash. do read the explanation if you don't know what tapering is--the article's hysterical. the story's funny and excessively, surprisingly good! it was a very pleasant surprise.
ripple effect (part i) by anna. ian/pieter, r. a fucked-up relationship making for an interesting story with some moving and amusing moments.
other rps
gross temptation, by verona. callum keith rennie/paul gross (due south) real person slash. nc-17. mostly pwp, very naughty, very hot. unapologetically naughty, i should say.
insensible, by veuki. daniel radcliffe/tom felton. pg, harry potter rps. warning: underage slash. tom helps daniel through difficulties as his parents divorce during filming of poa. sweet, mildly angsty yet matter-of-fact fluff.
lord byron/percy shelley by greencarnation, r. angsty but very well-written. not too long.
new looks and wild eyes. by wolfsage, pg. ros & guil movie rps, gary oldman/tim roth. short and hot, with some barely-implied slash, yet i'm melted to the chair in a puddle of hot! it may be extended at some later date.
straightened out, by helens78. ewan mcgregor/jude law, r. very cute.
prelude to the after party by jaxacayde; hard r, daniel radcliffe/tom felton. harry potter rps. sweet adolescent pwp.
more by master ruth and helens78, eric bana/jason isaacs, nc-17. an experiment on the set of black hawk down, first time, very hot porn. there is possibly a slightly overlarge proportion of telling to showing, but in the end it works out into a matter-of-fact blokeish vibe.
the sequel to the above, still bana/isaacs but getting rougher: a little more.
of booty, bondage, and avril lavigne, by thamiris, tom welling/michael rosenbaum rps, nc-17. pure porn from filming of smallville.
jealousy by lily, owen wilson/ben stiller, r. on the set of the starsky & hutch movie ben is jealous everytime owen's forthcoming movie with jackie chan comes up.
play pretend by china shop. sorta ckr/ paul gross, g. very meta.
emily bored's untitled clive owen/ioan gruffudd/keira knightley series (king arthur (2004) movie). delightful, covering a lot of time in what are usually very short snippets. 1, 2, 3, 4: follow, 5: discussion, 6, 7, 8, 9: in the quiet dark pt 1 & pt 2, 10: this mess we're in, 11: the gift, 12: counting, 13: absence, 14: reunion, 15: premiere, 16: london, 17: japan 1. the series was ongoing, but she hasn't updated it in a long time and i doubt she ever will.
the sentinel
fireworks, by bone. jim/blair, pg. pretty short, jim pov: the fourth of july has him cranky and blair comes up with an exercise to help him focus. wow, that sounds dirty. and it is, but not like that.
a long time looking by anna s. the sentinel. jim/blair, nc-17, jim pov. jim's pov wanders delightfully through an evening, which he eventually realises has been a date all along, with just the right tone to keep an essentially warming story from being fluffy.
wine, women and schlong by brighid. the sentinel. j/b, pg. blair gets locked in the supply closet and overhears a conversation and has an epiphany. you can probably tell from the summary that you've read this formula before, but after all, it's a really nice formula--at least i've always loved it. and this one is awfully cute.
anniversary story, by francesca. jim/blair. the sentinel. pg. clueless lumps aren't usually this cute. this story is not warm and mushy, but somehow that's how i came out of it anyway. okay, well, maybe it is.
armchair by francesca. the sentinel. j/b nc-17. jim has disturbing dreams which have to be a sign of something. the jim pov in this story is hilarious and delightful. it shows so clearly how he thinks--very direct and simple, very straightforward--because jim is an extremely simple guy. and it's adorable. and the matter-of-fact, loving, exasperated, guyish blair is a big turn-on too.
in the eye of the beholder: audiotape, by francesca. jim/blair, nc17, first time. blair pov, bit of voyeurism. cute, lovely guyish voice. and gay jim.
lost, by francesca. jim/blair, nc-17. a cute and rather short conversation in the middle of the night, jim pov. nicely guyish and funny.
super 8 by francesca. jim/blair, pg. a short, warm and rather sweet sentinel ficathon story. with a burning house.
percentage points by grit kitty, the sentinel, jim/blair, r. established. humour. based entirely on a really funny metaphor which works perfectly for blair pov.
words spoken in winter by grit kitty. the sentinel, jim/blair + ofc, nc-17. pheromones and a girl are the main plot elements in this story, in which jim actually steals blair's girlfriend and, in the end, determines to steal blair instead. well-written, long and hot.
heartbeats (one, two) by jm griffin. the sentinel. jim/blair, nc-17. a heartwarming jim-and-blair's-son fic with some rough edges stylistically speaking and a very matter-of-fact method of narration. sweet, well-paced, and interesting.
an ordinary life by jm griffin. the sentinel, j/b, nc-17, au. this au isn't that far divorced from reality--blair's an english professor who meets jim during an undercover job. some messiness, but it's rife with emotion, intensely romantic.
everything you need in one convenient location, by julad. the sentinel. j/b, pg. an early-in-canon trip to the supermarket, from jim's pov, sums up everything in a sweet, humourous, thoroughly guy-like fashion.
limbo, by julad. jim/blair, pg. i think the most striking thing about this story is the camera angle you get through jim's pov. the pacing is nice, too, and the way the government-finds-out plot comes out gradually.
dreaming, by kass. jim/blair, r. a sweet blair-pov piece immediately post-series about the shakedown. and shamanic visions.
seven days, by kass. jim/blair, pg. a nice polished story, light and rather short. a bit of humour and a bit of fluff and a bit of angst. very cute. uses both povs.
rite of passage, by lamardeuse. jim/blair, nc-17, post-show. involves rituals and rollercoasters and adrenaline-fueled sex. sort of shortish middle length.
epiphaneia, by lanning cook. the sentinel. j/b, nc-17. humourously drunken jim who talks to the worm in a bottle of tequila. if this story's not notorious in fandom it deserves to be. also, other cuteness and whatnot; some hard-to-define-ness seemed off to me, but was easily overlooked. maybe right around the resolution, the dialogue or the flow or something.
in conclusion, cousins, by laura jacquez valentine. jim/blair, pg. a stakeout, some light humour, and jim dresses gay.
mexico by lemon drop. j/b nc-17. a long, slow, luxurious, romantic first-time that's also about blair's childhood. beautiful vivid setting.
tempus fugit by lemon drop. the sentinel. j/b, nc-17. a long, meandering look at time measured off in holidays of various faiths, told by naomi and jim. covers a long stretch of jim and blair's relationship including the first time and quite a way after. very sweet, calm, peaceful; i found the holidays well-done and interesting but the end slow.
nuance, by livia and resonant. jim/blair, nc-17. a long, well-made and completely solid story and a mixture of casework and the romantic plot, jim pov. explores the idea that jim's enhanced senses give him the ability to read body language so well he's practically psychic. which is pretty cool, and it's explored nicely.
independence day, by merry lynne (aka merry). jim/blair, pg. a hugely dramatic pov-switching piece in which blair tries to leave. ends up sweet and a little too pat. kinda short.
a quiet war, by merry lynne. jim/blair. nc-17. a novel-length sentinel, erg, epic. not really epic, no, because it covers the whole of everything but not the whole timespan of everything. a little too long, perhaps, missing a little bit of focus, but it's also very good. it reads like it must have hurt to write.
cold snap, by pares. jim/blair, pg. it's almost pointless to say sweet in this fandom. this is a story that involves huddling for warmth and some nicely subtle, light humour woven through a sort of stoic jim voice.
grey areas, by wax jism. jim/blair. the sentinel. nc-17 with gore-squick warnings. hm... what is there to say? eh. just read it.
personal casualty by wistful. the sentinel. post-series jim/blair angst with no happy ending, very well done.
sherlock holmes
leaving and left, by telanu. holmes/watson. pg. oh, come on. you've got to read it if only for the novelty, even if telanu weren't one of those goddess of harry potter slash.
a marrying man, by kristophine. holmes/watson. pg-13. not too much, no, no. exquisite, though.
what remains, by kristophine. broken. holmes/watson. pg-13. not quite as good as the one before it, possibly a little out of character for holmes, possibly a little melodrama. an eeeeeeeenteresting plot, though.
black ink, white paper, by pet lunatic. holmes/watson. pg-13. nice. beautifully done and adorable.
absurdly simple, by irene adler (aka the plaid adder). holmes/watson. r. my favorite of the stories i've found in this genre. of a nice middling length, cute, not disagreeing with canon, hardly guilty of any of those 'ick' moments at all.
sub rosa, by professor pangea. gen, holmes and mycroft, composed entirely of images: this is the collected correspondence of sherlock and mycroft holmes during the years between the disappearance and the return. really, really cool.
lying at the mercy, by miss roylott. holmes/watson. pg. characterization seems a little dramatic, to me, but a lot of the dialogue rings very well. perhaps not as well-rounded as some of these others. it's also a blackmail story reminiscent of irene adler's "absurdly simple."
epithalamium, by roz. holmes/watson. pg. unrelieved deep angst, holmes pov on watson's canonical wedding, short and a little delirious. it seems appropriate. i don't usually go for this kind of essentially plotless mood piece, but i do think in the context of the canon and whatnot, this says something quite worthwhile, especially about holmes.
dear mary, by veinglory. holmes/watson. pg. bad punctuation, but good angst, and a good story. it seems very honest to me. the emotion is convincing and familiar in its bleakness and scariness.
the secret diaries of doctor watson, intro, 1, 2, 3, 4. holmes/watson. r. this is a very intensely emotional, almost breathless kind of story, a reminiscence on the past relationship from a watson who believes holmes to be dead. what would be almost agonizingly bittersweet is instead sizzling with possibility--we, the readers, know that watson's grief is for nothing and holmes will return.
the mystery of the apocryphal calabash pipe, by veinglory. holmes/watson. pg. just 251 words, this really struck my fancy. it's cute and clever. in general, i detest drabbles.
parlor games, by veinglory. holmes/watson. pg. a more appropriate title would be "come into my parlor." i'm sure she simply shied from being so obvious. veinglory's holmes and watson are bitter and unrequited; angst overdone can irritate me, but she only fascinates. i love this bitter, exhausted watson, and respect him as well.
a scarlet man and a scandal in baker street, by veinglory. holmes/watson. possibly r for the cocaine. another very bitter piece, and this one which i found to be wholly convincing--unusual in this genre. it addresses holmes's seeming coldness, which is to my mind of paramount importance. unfortunately, the ending isn't much of an ending. it would make a better middle--the last sentence is particularly puzzling. perhaps she intends to finish it later.
a snippet, also by veinglory. holmes/watson, pg. bwahaha! another short, clever, cute little piece--only about 300 words.
out of this room, by dorinda. h/w, pg. three what-ifs, not all sweetness and light, branching from a poignant moment in 'the three garridebs.'
the tell-tale heart, by dana kujan. h/w, pg. perhaps the best in the genre i've read--a christmas story, beautifully characterized with a very watsonlike voice, excellent smooth flow which fits right into the universe. sharply sweet, slightly fluffy, easily believable.
mistaken, by shalott. h/w, r (suggestion of sex), holmes pov, short. not placed at any particular spot in canon but with a nice, authentic feel. unfortunately too short to be really satisfying though it's very strikingly good.
the maiden voyage of the tiresias, by shalott. h/w, nc-17 (maybe r, but more graphic than the last). watson pov, framed somewhat more omnisciently than is his practice--and it relies on the extension of holmes's master of disguise business beyond its description in canon. still, gorgeous, tense, um... really excellent, well-written, had me on the edge of my seat.
november 1985 by watergal, r, holmes/watson. a series of drabbles--each contains a switch in pov, some in tense. sit back and absorb the effect without over-analysis and you should have no trouble following. not too short, but still a short-short story.
polonaise in b flat minor, by watergal. holmes/watson, r. a very short ficlet, bittersweet and rather poignant, with beautiful watsonian voice and not an instant out of character.
into the arms, by watergal. h/w, pg. a not-so-everyday sort of deathstory, holmes pov, somewhat dark and bitter... and then a supernatural element. in the end, some sweetness, and i decided i liked it primarily for some dialogue thereabouts.
smallville
rebirth of slick, by jane st clair. clark/lex. nc-17. i can't really take credit, as wax recc'd it to me. in the summertime, nocturnal is the only way to be.
prophet of eden, by destina fortunato. clark/lex. r. time travel.
three impossible things, by jenn. clark/lex. nc-17. "'i like her a lot.' and he couldn't have sounded less convincing if he'd said he liked lima beans. oh god. 'she's perfect.'"
mercy, by koi. clark/lex. nc-17. warning: violence and torture. this is melodrama, but it's the good kind of melodrama. the really good kind. no, the really, really good kind. i haven't salivated this much for... well, let's just say moral ambiguity does it for me, all right? and read it. oh, definitely read it.
bound, by auden. clark/lex. nc-17. a cute idea, a fairly neat execution, a breathtaking scene in the mix that makes up, i feel, for a little sloppiness at the end.
closer to breathing, by jenn. clark/lex, nc-17. a first-time, and not really a pwp, but more focused on the sex than on the issues she brings up in the beginning.
the naming of names, by jenn. clark and lex gen. g. a friendship story about gifts given and received and just gorgeous.
only sometimes, by jenn. clark/lex. r. a very, very sad sad!future!fic. which is to say, in keeping with comic book canon, more or less. well, perhaps less. but anyway, yes, it's really sad, and i'm sorry i read it. then again, when you're in this fandom, this is the lurking threat that haunts you, you know?
interstitial, by punk. clark/lex. nc-17. a meandering, dreamy futurefic full of sharp metaphors and burning-bright moments that makes me want to stare at the ceiling and think about nothing. the best i've read in the genre.
snow day, by basingstoke. c/l. pg. adorable cotton candy. in very small amounts. but good, yeah.
belief, by brighid. c/l. nc-17. short and sharp and pretty.
planets crashing to dust, by brighid. c/l. pg. a melodramatic vignette.
three fairy tales of smallville, by koi. c/l. pg, or possibly r for some edgy and rather disturbing themes. no sex, no squicks. short, absorbing, thoughtful, and breath-taking, it tells three separate aus based on smallville. the first one is absolutely beautiful. the second one is impressively shocking. the third is, well, disturbing but thought-provoking.
divergence, by lanning cook. c/l. pgish. lionel isn't pleased with lex and decides to do something about it. jonathan is a thoroughly believable asshole.
aphrodesia, by lenore. clark/lex, nc-17. clark pov and the issue of alien-ness. he has another weakness, apparently. and lex gets a little angry.
customary, by pearl-o. clark/lex, pg. a sweet bit of clark-pov angst. cute. well-characterized.
the continually vibrating i, by thamiris. clark/lex, nc-17. very good in any number of ways--hot, sweet, well-characterized, pretty and well-written, very deft ambiguity about the middle. seems to miss the point it aims for by a hair, though.
driving with crocodile shoes, by thamiris. clark/lex, nc-17, spoilers for redux. cute, sweet second-time story. (and third and....) a bit weak about the ending.
thank you, ma'am, by laura shapiro. chloe/lana, nc-17. wank pwp, very hot, sweetish. lana pov.
wilde like, by thamiris. clark/lex, nc-17. decidedly sexy pwp, with some dirty talk that's really probably rather tame as dirty talk goes, but seems really dirty for clark.
fall far from, by tiffany rawlins. clark/lex. pg. apparently a spackle of the pilot; nice lex pov. hits an unusual note between angst and happiness.
the telling of all this, by tiffany rawlins. clark/lex, nc-17. lex locks gazes with chloe over clark. serious, sweet, medium-length, a little disconnected on purpose. lex is totally infatuated, which is cute.
just pie, by livia. pg, clark/lex, smallville au. a hooker au where clark is not a pimp. made me laugh out loud with delight. so cute. so funny.
meanwhile back in metropolis, by punk. clex futurefic. nc-17. a hilarious, engaging, believable happy ending. and there's a lois lane, too.
breaking up is hard to do by mahaliem. clark/lex, pg. humor. futurefic. lex tries to get a new nemesis. clark is not pleased.
new habits by suz, pg. clex futurefic in which clark is jealous because lex and lois are dating.
demarcation by livia. clex, n-17 cheery futurefic in which superman and lex work together to bring lionel luthor down.
drift by rose ferguson, clex, pg. clark sleep-flies. hilarious. i almost spit on my monitor.
deep throat by te, clex, nc-17. porn in which clark practices his seduction technique. hot, but mostly funny.
the milk and cookies war by punk. clark/lex, pg. lex pov futurefic, rather hilarious romantic comedy full of lots of sexual tension. absolutely and completely adorable, kind of fluffy, and delightful.
miscellaneous
inklings by james walkswithwind. angel. wes/gunn, pg. shortish, humour, adventure. light. cute. sweet. funny.
ragged oasis by lm. buffy. tara/oz au, pg. very nice. good.
touch, by leyenn. babylon 5. susan ivanova/talia winters, g. just a ficlet, susan pov. dressed up like angst, but very rich and smooth and easy to read, it's more like the paragraph before the character falls in love.
if i want to go to pieces/i can do that by gymnopedies. boondock saints. not explicitly slashy, but obviously about c & m. pg. weird, disconnected, modernist-ish present tense, not free of technical flaw. never becomes clear. not really lyrical, but interesting and evocative.
no matter how many fish in the sea by tailwind. boondock saints. g. highschool. twins have just moved from ireland. rather cute without being cutey--sweetness is all understated. it's very somber, like the rest of this fandom, but fortunately less pretentious than most of it.
the priest that tastes the word, by proserpina. dogma. metatron/god, pg. post-movie, short and humourous, metatron pov. Sometimes they went straight back to Heaven, sometimes they went to a nice restaurant (of Metatron's choosing, usually-God always wanted to eat something odd, like monkey brains or corn dogs)....
void, by wax jism. casey/zeke/delilah. the faculty. nc-17. knowledge of the movie is wholly unnecessary--consider it modern realistic fiction, and dig in. yummmmmm.
it was dark, by devon. fight club. sort of slash. perverse content. r. just a little scene that (not surprisingly) didn't make it to the movie. tension in the dark.
his name is tyler durden, by lanna michaels. fight club. tyler/narrator, r. in the style of the book, or so i gather from the comments. intriguing and well-done. mind-blowing if you like that sort of thing, i suspect.
an interlude on mount wannahockaloogie, by amanuensis. finding nemo. nemo/gill, chan, r. contains sex. well, fish sex. set during the movie. nemo has an almost-sorta-awakening and gill broods.
artificial devotion, by katie m. galaxy quest--not the movie but the show within the movie. a bit of quite original sf background for the show and tawny, the character played by sigourney weaver's gwen demarco. i nicked this rec from thefourthvine.
the best policy, by torch. here is greenwood. mitsuru/shinobu. nc-17 and just perfect and adorable. trust me, you don't have to have watched the series.
from the brightest star, by kyuuketsukirui. i ♥ huckabees. albert/brad, r. a short fic set immediately pre-movie. funny and a bit cute, perfect albert narrative voice.
listening in, by shalott. la confidential. white/exley, nc-17, oc pov. a rather story, shortish but excellent, that takes place 8 years after the film.
payback, by shalott. la confidential. white/exley, nc-17, au. non-con warning. an au version of the film, particularly violent. a little hard to swallow in some of the particulars, but it's not actually unbelievable.
partnership, extended edition, by shalott. la confidential. white/exley au, nc-17. just barely diverges from canon at the end of the movie; the story's funny and a little sweet, in character, narrated with an incredible light touch. six extra scenes split off in aus from six points in the story. it reads like it was written to have them there--just lovely, and full of sex that's sweet and sexy, but never mushy.
games men play, by shalott. la confidential. nc-17 white/exley--a pure pwp sequel to "partnership", amazingly hot for the relatively small degree of graphicness. shockingly sweet, too, without losing that rather hard-boiled feel.
parallel connections over symmetric spaces, by dale. numbers. don/charlie, incest, nc-17, torture and sex. very long. rather fragmented and... well, good. and actually kind of charming. um. i doubt i'll ever rec anything else in this fandom.
double-act, by miriam heddy. numbers. charlie/larry, larry pov, pg. a neat, polished short-story. larry's pov is excellent and very cute and the whole thing fits together very nicely.
magnus force by miriam heddy. numbers, charlie/larry. nc-17. first-time with golf and the physics and math thereof mixed in, and charlie and larry getting high. charlie pov, well-done, sweet, and wistful early on.
making out, by miriam heddy. numbers, charlie/larry, nc-17 established. most of it is sex-related, but there's a lot of funny dialogue at the beginning. it has a sequel, dinner for four, which involves coming out to charlie's family.
on the relative significance of bodily proxemics, by miriam heddy. charlie/larry, nc-17. mostly a pwp, but the narration and dialogue are what make it great. and it's a bit sweet, too.
standard deviation, by miriam heddy. numbers, charlie/larry, nc-17, established. larry pov, sex and philosophical musing, charlie trying to solve a case. a little mournful, a little distracted, but doesn't feel awkward or unfinished.
it's a good life, by the enigmatic big miss sunbeam; political parody of 1953 story of same name by jerome bixby on which a twilight zone episode was based. pg. horror! horror! much like a twilight zone ep. george w does things to people.
like having sex by julad, r, brian/justin, queer as folk us. very short.
love of his life, by julad. queer as folk us. brian/justin (etc). nc-17. a hysterical, excellently in-character, long, really satisfying piece in which brian gets amnesia. will make you love brian even more.
the depth of dreams, by adrienne. sir gawain and the green knight. gawain/bertilak, nc-17. follows her earlier hidden favor. established, clever, intersting, sharply sweet.
lending a hand, by ginalin. starsky & hutch, s/h. g. not overtly slash--almost fits movie canon. a comment says it could've come right from the show. hutch's hand itches on stakeout and starsky plays nurse.
along for the ride, by lacey mcbain. starsky & hutch, s/h, r. a nice, well-connected story that could almost fit in the movie universe.
nobody wants to uncover by mosca. veronica mars. pg. logan/weevil. six college application essays that weevil never wrote, sweetness in a story that isn't sweet, uncertainty in established relationship, perfect handling of all the characters who come up. excellent mood and ... execution.
tidings of comfort and joy, by sister sleep. veronica mars. pg; logan/weevil; post-ep for "an echolls family christmas". spoilers. logan is angsting but doesn't really want to be alone. he's understandably frustrated and seems angry and tired; weevil is there.
when you had the chance, by jj taylor. x-men, professor x/magneto. pg, bittersweet angst, pretty and poetic, prequel and with a flash during x2.
perfume, by leyenn. x-men. logan/rogue, pg. a funny, very condensed rogue-pov piece that's very subtly very romantic.
don't make me, by stellamaru. x-men. logan/rogue. pg-13. logan's really into this broody angstiness, smoking in the dark and such. a really short story--almost only a glimpse. but good.