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Fanfic recs: Mostly TW (no CoE), some DW, FF, PotC, X-overs
I've been reading a lot of fanfic lately. It's too hot to do much else.
Note 1: I'm still way behind on my reading. Everything I rec here has probably been rec'd all over the internet and back already. But I can live with not being avant-garde.
Note 2: If you want ratings, or warnings for spoilers or anything else, you'll (usually) find them on the fic.
***
Top of the heap
Title: To Wander, Between the Stars
Fandom: Doctor Who/Torchwood
Author: Schildkroet (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
vail_kagami on LJ)
Length: 23,000 words
What is it about? In "Parting of the Ways" Jack says, "I wish I'd never met you, Doctor. I was much better off as a coward.". In this AU, departing from "The Empty Child" and "Blink", Jack never has met the Doctor. He still manages to get stranded on Earth. His attempts to leave lead him to Torchwood, where the Doctor has been imprisoned for decades. And with meeting the Doctor, Jack has to decide if a coward is really better off...
Why read it: Both the AU and the portrayal of Jack (and other characters) are uncommon but logical and convincing. There is a lot of suspense, and both character development and dramatic development are well handled.
Why not read it: Darkish, occasionally nasty, up to being gratuitously so.
Title: Baron Saturday Visits Cardiff
Fandom: Torchwood
Author: thaddeusfavor
Length: 45,000 words
What is it about? Something strange going on with Jack has released a plague of zombies in Cardiff, and Torchwood has to catch and destroy them as quickly as possible. Features a very reasonable ex-UNIT zombie guy, and a doctor who survived Sunnydale High and wanted to get away from hellmouths!
Why read it: Fast-paced (once it gets moving), funny, witty, strong plot, very good Tosh-Owen interaction.
Why not read it: Occasional gruesomeness. The MacGuffin that starts the story is a little weak and the story takes some time to in gear. The epilogue is somewhat pasted on. Some readers might have overdosed on zombie stories or dislike crossover in-jokes.
Jossed by/ignores: Exit Wounds
***
Recommended
Title: Utopia
Fandom: Firefly
Author: Salieri (troyswann on LJ)
Length: 7,600 words
What is it about? After a reaver attack on Serenity, Jayne is picked up and patched up by Alliance, and is not quite sane. Flashbacks put the story together, but something is missing...
Why read it: Strong writing, visceral, merciless, yet with Big Damn Heroes. Good mix.
Why not read it: violence/horror, non-linear storytelling.
Title: The Children of Time Will Gather
Fandom: Doctor Who
Author: RobinC (lindenharp on LJ)
Length: 13,500 words
What is it about? After "Journey's End", everyone involved (but the Doctor) keeps meeting to gossip and talk shop. And when Sarah Jane hears about a newspaper story that might threaten Donna's sanity should she read it, the gang springs into action...
Why read it: Sympathetic characters pulling a clever con for a worthy cause.
Why not read it: No idea.
Title: Like Death
Fandom: Torchwood
Author: Scythe the Wicked
Length: 5,000 words
What is it about? The OC narrator of the story owns alien glasses that allow the wearer to see people "how they should be". At first it's a fun toy, but one look at Jack, and the narrator go off the deep end... badly.
Why read it: Nasty and clever. The motivation of the OC narrator is very well portrayed through his/her voice, and the story moves from "fun alien artefact" into horror smoothly and naturally.
Why not read it: High Octane Nightmare Fuel. Maybe a little less so after "Exit Wounds" and "CoE", for reasons of perspective, but still...
Title: Acquaint Me With Your Fuck-Ups
Fandom: Torchwood
Author:paperclipbitch
Length: 6,500 words
What is it about? Ianto wants a job. Suzie wants better coffee.
Why read it: It's a fun "behind the scenes" of Ianto's flashback in "Fragments", explains a lot, and shows Torchwood as seriously and amusingly dysfunctional. (It also explains, maybe without meaning to, why Jack was happy to recruit Gwen.)
Why not read it: Dysfunctional Torchwood, clueless Jack -- probably not everyone's taste in character interpretation.
Title: Hidden Past
Fandom: Torchwood
Author:dk_valentine
Length: 2,900 words
What is it about? Past!Jack is creating mayhem in Cardiff, and Torchwood has to bring him in -- alive, of course. Ianto rises to the occasion, and a time loop is created.
Why read it: Good Ianto, the revelations and the plot development is very natural.
Why not read it: Past!Jack is a bastard with no redeeming features.
Title: For King and Country #2: Torchwood 1908 -- Scareship
Fandom: Torchwood
Author: JJPOR (jjpor on LJ)
Length: 57,000 words
What is it about? A zeppelin is stuck in the rift, and Torchwood has to get it out. Unfortunately, it does not want to, and 1908 and 1916 start to overlap...
Why read it: Edwardian UFOs. German war zeppelins. Aerial hijinks. Gerald and Harriet. What's not to like?
Why not read it: Could have used tighter editing, the plot drags in places. Torchwood might be the good guys here, but nice they are not.
Title: For King and Country #3: Torchwood 1916 -- Last Man Standing
Fandom: Torchwood
Author: JJPOR (jjpor on LJ)
Length: 8,200 words
What is it about? Jack, flying planes in the Great War.
Why read it: Good sense of time and place, flying scenes, good but unobtrusive examination of Jack's motives and ways to cope.
Why not read it: Don't like war stories.
Title: Scratch
Fandom: Torchwood
Author:antelope_writes
Length: 60,000 words
What is it about? How did the blowfish get into the sports car?
Why read it: Brilliantly imagined, dark, dramatic, complex, picks up all kinds of loose ends (the Boeshane raiders, Gray, the Time Agency, the Arcadian diamond) and runs with it. Convincing OCs, strong plot, interesting and uncommon viewpoint character.
Why not read it: This is borderline original fic. Except for the blowfish and John Hart, there are only OCs, even the setting is extrapolated from very little data. The in-jokes might not be everyone's cup of tea. Also, it's dark, violent, and tragic. Poor blowfish never had a chance. But we knew that.
Kinks/Squicks: Poodles?
Title: Death and the Definitely-Not-a-Maiden
Fandom: Torchwood/Discworld
Author:odsbodkins
Length: 3,700 words
What is it about? Every time Jack dies, Death is waiting for him. A friendship of sorts develops.
Why read it: Kind of sweet. The interaction between Jack and Discworld!Death is fun, and both are well in character. The story deals with both horrible and embarrassing deaths with equanimity, and casually gives a reason why Jack wasn't more out of it after "Exit Wounds".
Why not read it: No idea.
***
Short and sweet
Those have a little less substance than I usually like, but are shiny little things
Title: West Palm Beach, 1927
Fandom: Pirates of the Caribbean
Author: Penknife (penknife on LJ)
Length: 1,400 words
What is it about? Jack and Elizabeth run rum, and a speakeasy. Will comes to visit.
Why read it: Still pirates after all those years. And I can so see them do that.
Why not read it: No idea.
Title: Two immortals walk into a bar...
Fandom: Pirates of the Caribbean/Torchwood
Author: Eledhwen (torn_eledhwen on LJ)
Length: 1,300 words
What is it about? Captain Jack meets Captain Jack.
Why read it: Because they are fun together.
Why not read it: Because there isn't more.
Title: Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodies
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis/Torchwood
Author:sam_storyteller
Length: 2,000 words
What is it about? While the SGA team is stuck in the Pegasus galaxy, Torchwood comes visiting and reads them the riot act for disturbing intergalactic peace.
Why read it: "They're such assholes," Rodney says, faintly awed. "It's like art."
Why not read it: It's not exactly fair to the Stargate team.
Title: Gone Fishin'
Fandom: Highlander/Torchwood
Author: Jinxed Wood (jinxed_wood on LJ)
Length: 2,300 words
What is it about? Richie, Mac and Methos just wanted to go fishing. Instead they get rain, hungry Nessie, an alien cow, and a couple of weirdoes with guns...
Why read it: ROTFL.
Why not read it: It's a little bit silly. Well, very silly.
***
From the backlog
Title: If We Haven't Got Nightingales, Glenn Miller Will Suffice
Fandom: Torchwood
Author:sam_storyteller
Length: 4,700 words
What it's about? The Hub, basically. And Jack flirting with architecture.
Why read it? It's beautiful, takes a weird idea and makes it work, too cute to be true but never sappy.
Why not read it? Allergic to fluff.
Note 1: I'm still way behind on my reading. Everything I rec here has probably been rec'd all over the internet and back already. But I can live with not being avant-garde.
Note 2: If you want ratings, or warnings for spoilers or anything else, you'll (usually) find them on the fic.
Top of the heap
Title: To Wander, Between the Stars
Fandom: Doctor Who/Torchwood
Author: Schildkroet (
vail_kagami on LJ)Length: 23,000 words
What is it about? In "Parting of the Ways" Jack says, "I wish I'd never met you, Doctor. I was much better off as a coward.". In this AU, departing from "The Empty Child" and "Blink", Jack never has met the Doctor. He still manages to get stranded on Earth. His attempts to leave lead him to Torchwood, where the Doctor has been imprisoned for decades. And with meeting the Doctor, Jack has to decide if a coward is really better off...
Why read it: Both the AU and the portrayal of Jack (and other characters) are uncommon but logical and convincing. There is a lot of suspense, and both character development and dramatic development are well handled.
Why not read it: Darkish, occasionally nasty, up to being gratuitously so.
Title: Baron Saturday Visits Cardiff
Fandom: Torchwood
Author: thaddeusfavor
Length: 45,000 words
What is it about? Something strange going on with Jack has released a plague of zombies in Cardiff, and Torchwood has to catch and destroy them as quickly as possible. Features a very reasonable ex-UNIT zombie guy, and a doctor who survived Sunnydale High and wanted to get away from hellmouths!
Why read it: Fast-paced (once it gets moving), funny, witty, strong plot, very good Tosh-Owen interaction.
Why not read it: Occasional gruesomeness. The MacGuffin that starts the story is a little weak and the story takes some time to in gear. The epilogue is somewhat pasted on. Some readers might have overdosed on zombie stories or dislike crossover in-jokes.
Jossed by/ignores: Exit Wounds
Recommended
Title: Utopia
Fandom: Firefly
Author: Salieri (
troyswann on LJ)Length: 7,600 words
What is it about? After a reaver attack on Serenity, Jayne is picked up and patched up by Alliance, and is not quite sane. Flashbacks put the story together, but something is missing...
Why read it: Strong writing, visceral, merciless, yet with Big Damn Heroes. Good mix.
Why not read it: violence/horror, non-linear storytelling.
Title: The Children of Time Will Gather
Fandom: Doctor Who
Author: RobinC (
lindenharp on LJ)Length: 13,500 words
What is it about? After "Journey's End", everyone involved (but the Doctor) keeps meeting to gossip and talk shop. And when Sarah Jane hears about a newspaper story that might threaten Donna's sanity should she read it, the gang springs into action...
Why read it: Sympathetic characters pulling a clever con for a worthy cause.
Why not read it: No idea.
Title: Like Death
Fandom: Torchwood
Author: Scythe the Wicked
Length: 5,000 words
What is it about? The OC narrator of the story owns alien glasses that allow the wearer to see people "how they should be". At first it's a fun toy, but one look at Jack, and the narrator go off the deep end... badly.
Why read it: Nasty and clever. The motivation of the OC narrator is very well portrayed through his/her voice, and the story moves from "fun alien artefact" into horror smoothly and naturally.
Why not read it: High Octane Nightmare Fuel. Maybe a little less so after "Exit Wounds" and "CoE", for reasons of perspective, but still...
Title: Acquaint Me With Your Fuck-Ups
Fandom: Torchwood
Author:
paperclipbitchLength: 6,500 words
What is it about? Ianto wants a job. Suzie wants better coffee.
Why read it: It's a fun "behind the scenes" of Ianto's flashback in "Fragments", explains a lot, and shows Torchwood as seriously and amusingly dysfunctional. (It also explains, maybe without meaning to, why Jack was happy to recruit Gwen.)
Why not read it: Dysfunctional Torchwood, clueless Jack -- probably not everyone's taste in character interpretation.
Title: Hidden Past
Fandom: Torchwood
Author:
dk_valentineLength: 2,900 words
What is it about? Past!Jack is creating mayhem in Cardiff, and Torchwood has to bring him in -- alive, of course. Ianto rises to the occasion, and a time loop is created.
Why read it: Good Ianto, the revelations and the plot development is very natural.
Why not read it: Past!Jack is a bastard with no redeeming features.
Title: For King and Country #2: Torchwood 1908 -- Scareship
Fandom: Torchwood
Author: JJPOR (
jjpor on LJ)Length: 57,000 words
What is it about? A zeppelin is stuck in the rift, and Torchwood has to get it out. Unfortunately, it does not want to, and 1908 and 1916 start to overlap...
Why read it: Edwardian UFOs. German war zeppelins. Aerial hijinks. Gerald and Harriet. What's not to like?
Why not read it: Could have used tighter editing, the plot drags in places. Torchwood might be the good guys here, but nice they are not.
Title: For King and Country #3: Torchwood 1916 -- Last Man Standing
Fandom: Torchwood
Author: JJPOR (
jjpor on LJ)Length: 8,200 words
What is it about? Jack, flying planes in the Great War.
Why read it: Good sense of time and place, flying scenes, good but unobtrusive examination of Jack's motives and ways to cope.
Why not read it: Don't like war stories.
Title: Scratch
Fandom: Torchwood
Author:
antelope_writesLength: 60,000 words
What is it about? How did the blowfish get into the sports car?
Why read it: Brilliantly imagined, dark, dramatic, complex, picks up all kinds of loose ends (the Boeshane raiders, Gray, the Time Agency, the Arcadian diamond) and runs with it. Convincing OCs, strong plot, interesting and uncommon viewpoint character.
Why not read it: This is borderline original fic. Except for the blowfish and John Hart, there are only OCs, even the setting is extrapolated from very little data. The in-jokes might not be everyone's cup of tea. Also, it's dark, violent, and tragic. Poor blowfish never had a chance. But we knew that.
Kinks/Squicks: Poodles?
Title: Death and the Definitely-Not-a-Maiden
Fandom: Torchwood/Discworld
Author:
odsbodkinsLength: 3,700 words
What is it about? Every time Jack dies, Death is waiting for him. A friendship of sorts develops.
Why read it: Kind of sweet. The interaction between Jack and Discworld!Death is fun, and both are well in character. The story deals with both horrible and embarrassing deaths with equanimity, and casually gives a reason why Jack wasn't more out of it after "Exit Wounds".
Why not read it: No idea.
Short and sweet
Those have a little less substance than I usually like, but are shiny little things
Title: West Palm Beach, 1927
Fandom: Pirates of the Caribbean
Author: Penknife (
penknife on LJ)Length: 1,400 words
What is it about? Jack and Elizabeth run rum, and a speakeasy. Will comes to visit.
Why read it: Still pirates after all those years. And I can so see them do that.
Why not read it: No idea.
Title: Two immortals walk into a bar...
Fandom: Pirates of the Caribbean/Torchwood
Author: Eledhwen (
torn_eledhwen on LJ)Length: 1,300 words
What is it about? Captain Jack meets Captain Jack.
Why read it: Because they are fun together.
Why not read it: Because there isn't more.
Title: Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodies
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis/Torchwood
Author:
sam_storytellerLength: 2,000 words
What is it about? While the SGA team is stuck in the Pegasus galaxy, Torchwood comes visiting and reads them the riot act for disturbing intergalactic peace.
Why read it: "They're such assholes," Rodney says, faintly awed. "It's like art."
Why not read it: It's not exactly fair to the Stargate team.
Title: Gone Fishin'
Fandom: Highlander/Torchwood
Author: Jinxed Wood (
jinxed_wood on LJ)Length: 2,300 words
What is it about? Richie, Mac and Methos just wanted to go fishing. Instead they get rain, hungry Nessie, an alien cow, and a couple of weirdoes with guns...
Why read it: ROTFL.
Why not read it: It's a little bit silly. Well, very silly.
From the backlog
Title: If We Haven't Got Nightingales, Glenn Miller Will Suffice
Fandom: Torchwood
Author:
sam_storytellerLength: 4,700 words
What it's about? The Hub, basically. And Jack flirting with architecture.
Why read it? It's beautiful, takes a weird idea and makes it work, too cute to be true but never sappy.
Why not read it? Allergic to fluff.