Other Fandom Recs
Sep. 9th, 2018 05:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
starfishstarOTHER FANDOM RECS
...which means: everything that's not Harry Potter! This has now split off as a separate wing from my main recs post, because the original post got too big. :-)
This particular recs list right here includes: Merlin, Torchwood, Cabin Pressure, White Collar, a few recs in some other fandoms (Firefly, His Dark Materials, Narnia, Fairy Tales, even Calvin and Hobbes!) and some especially fun ones I refer to as “other other other.”
MERLIN
• stories by rageprufrock, especially Drastically Redefining Protocol (http://www.glitterati.talkoncorners.net/drp/drp.html) – the great classic, a modern-day AU in which Arthur is the Prince of Wales and Merlin is a medical student. Also available in a wonderful podfic by lunchee (http://archiveofourown.org/works/402449). Story also has sequels (http://archiveofourown.org/series/211), of which the best is Part 6, Five Secrets That Ought to Be Kept (and One for the Road)
• The Curious Incident of the Harpies in Broad Daylight, or, the Abbreviated Adventures of Gwaine and Lancelot, Not-Quite-Knights For Hire (While We Wait For Arthur To Become King) by kaydeefalls (http://kaydeefalls.livejournal.com/618140.html) – one of my all-time favorites! A delightful romp featuring Lancelot and Gwaine, hanging around, getting up to things, until they can become knights. Also a wonderful podfic by lunchee (http://archiveofourown.org/works/403776)
• There Are No Gays in Football by Malu_3 (https://archiveofourown.org/works/730238) – holy wow, how did I not discover this stunning classic until 2018? Read it, read it, read it – regardless of whether you care about football; regardless even of whether you ever watched Merlin, frankly! Arthur is an up and coming footballer for Camelot FC (owned by his father Uther, naturally). It’s only when he falls for brilliant physiotherapist Merlin that Arthur starts to think it might be worth struggling against the restrictive norms of the football world to come out. A beautiful love story, a beautiful portrait of Arthur and Merlin, masterfully written down to the sentence level.
• All the stories by rosemaryandrue, especially
• Thrift (http://camelotsolstice.livejournal.com/43745.html) – this, not the actual later seasons of the actual show, I take as my canon.
• A New Low (http://rosemaryandrue.livejournal.com/72686.html) – a terrific modern-day AU. In which the prompt “diabetic!Merlin stuck in a lift with Arthur” grows into a wonderful romance.
• Shake Your Windows and Rattle Your Walls (http://rosemaryandrue.livejournal.com/71729.html) and sequel Were You Up For Pendragon? – 1960s Oxford, in which Arthur is a Tory politician and Merlin is a Marxist.
• Let Us Dare by kianspo (https://archiveofourown.org/works/276745) – in a Camelot where Uther died in Arthur’s infancy and Arthur has grown up always knowing about Merlin’s magic, there are still adventures to embark on, dangers to battle…and Arthur still has to figure out Merlin’s heart. Lovely, fun and very romantic!
• more fics by Malu_3, e.g.:
• Letters to Nemeth (https://archiveofourown.org/works/5338286) – a beautiful series of interconnected chapters telling love stories between women from the Arthurian era to the present day, and eventually bringing Merlin and Arthur together.
• For Starters (https://archiveofourown.org/works/1144678) – wonderful AU where Uther runs a restaurant, Arthur of course works in the family business, and Merlin grows up hero-worshipping an older Arthur…until they both meet again as adults.
• A Word Apart (https://archiveofourown.org/works/3546455) – in a world where everyone has soulmates whose names appear on their skin, Merlin and Arthur aren’t each other’s soulmates…or so it seems?
• Simple Pleasures (Mistletoe Story) (https://archiveofourown.org/works/3259586) – Freyja has been trying for centuries to get them all back together in the same time and place: Arthur, Merlin, Gwen and Morgana. Now, in the modern day, all the pieces finally seem to be in place.
• Come Soon (https://archiveofourown.org/works/10892535) – Merlin has been living as a merman, when he finds Arthur again in the modern day.
• Ordinary Secrets (https://archiveofourown.org/works/4928179) – Arthur is ticklish, and Merlin has strong feelings about a hat.
• more fics by kianspo, e.g.:
• Same River Twice (https://archiveofourown.org/works/315298) – Arthur is a prince (modern-day) who met Merlin when they were teenagers, but let him slip away…until they meet again by chance.
• A Change of Pace (https://archiveofourown.org/works/426567) – Arthur is a stuck in a boring finance job by his sense of loyalty to his father, Merlin is a brilliant advertising/design person, they come and shake each other’s lives up.
• Advisor to the King by copperbadge (https://archiveofourown.org/works/823601) – Merlin gets fed up and finally reveals his magic to Arthur; as Arthur finds his footing as a new king, Merlin finds a place for him in Camelot, the palace, and Arthur and Gwen’s lives.
• Giving Thanks by such-heights (http://such-heights.dreamwidth.org/68078.html) – Arthur finally tries to thank Merlin, and thus Merlin thinks Arthur is losing his mind
• and two fun modern-day university-student Merlin/Arthur AUs:
• Possibly Maybe I'm Falling For You by lady_ragnell (http://lady-ragnell.livejournal.com/12554.html)
• The Student Prince by FayJay (http://archiveofourown.org/works/91885/chapters/125138)
FIREFLY
• Testing by Aria (http://archiveofourown.org/works/13056) – Testing, testing. Space is working. Serenity and her crew from River's perspective.
HIS DARK MATERIALS
• The Ivory Horn by kaydeefalls (http://yuletidetreasure.org/archive/40/theivory.html) – an amazing story of Will from His Dark Materials meeting… but to say what the crossover is would give everything away :-)
NARNIA
• Queen of Narnia by kaydeefalls (http://kaydeefalls.livejournal.com/343998.html) – series of ficlets about Susan never getting back to Narnia
FAIRY TALES
• Verity by rosemaryandrue (http://yuletidetreasure.org/archive/76/verity.html) – The first time Princess Verity rides out into the forest, she meets a boy making a tower out of bricks. (A genderswap Rapunzel and a fantastic story!)
• Queer as the Fork when the Knife Ran away with the Spoon by fresne (http://archiveofourown.org/works/37247) – “Beauty is a black, gay, magic using (but not abusing) man with a texture fetish and a knack for roses. Beast doesn't quite know what to think (but he kind of likes it).” A beautiful, creative urban fantasy retelling of Beauty and the Beast.
CALVIN AND HOBBES
• The Sandwich Story by Meredith (http://archiveofourown.org/works/1625354) Calvin, Hobbes, and the bittersweetness of growing up.
CABIN PRESSURE
• The Z Episode by Ariana DeVere (http://arianedevere.livejournal.com/57283.html) – a highly satisfying solution to the question of the Z episode (written before the actual Zurich episode).
• Bloop by innie (https://archiveofourown.org/works/2663762) – an utterly sweet story from Arthur's POV. About, among many other things, understanding people, and also fish.
• Measure for Measure by c3mf and Linguini (http://archiveofourown.org/works/635251) – some backstory on Douglas, alcoholism, and the power of Arthur’s friendship.
• Cabin Pressure! The Musical! by fractionallyfoxtrot (http://archiveofourown.org/works/515281/chapters/909343) – yes, it's a Cabin Pressure musical!
WHITE COLLAR
• everything by Sam Starbuck, aka Copperbadge (http://sam-storyteller.dreamwidth.org/154868.html#whitecollar) but especially: Exquisite; Four Meals; A Long, Strange Story; Jeffrey Nullier’s “Man With Fedora”; Eternal Springtime
• Quid Pro Quo by Lenore (https://archiveofourown.org/works/40164) – Neal kisses Elizabeth, so Peter kisses Neal. (And Neal is totally thrown off balance by both Peter and Elizabeth, and it’s very sweet!)
• The Gambler by innie (https://archiveofourown.org/works/57360) – over the course of their marriage, Elizabeth is very good at sentences that start "Bet you can't..." and Peter is very good at losing those bets (but in the sweetest possible way). Peter/Elizabeth, eventual Peter/Elizabeth/Neal.
TORCHWOOD
• No surprise here: Sam Starbuck (aka Copperbadge) writes the loveliest Torchwood stories. Especially:
•If We Haven’t Got Nightingales, Glenn Miller Will Suffice (http://archiveofourown.org/works/637293) – in which Sam creates a beautiful backstory for what Torchwood’s Hub really is, and how the Hub is Jack’s one true love. When I bookmarked this for myself, what I wrote was “beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.”
•First Day (http://archiveofourown.org/works/875239) – fills in the missing pieces around Ianto joining the team, the before and after of “Cyberwoman” and Jack helping Ianto slowly pick up the pieces of himself and his life – basically, the only thing I’ve come across that makes Jack and Ianto’s seemingly sudden shift into an established relationship make perfect sense.
•Not What You’re Thinking (http://archiveofourown.org/works/846805) – Sam, who is brilliant, has a perfect explanation for what Jack and Ianto’s canonical reference to “naked hide and seek” actually means…and what it has to do with Ianto’s stopwatch.
•Carnival Show (http://sam-storyteller.dreamwidth.org/115057.html) – Sam’s rewrite of the episode “From out of the Rain” that, predictably, is better than the episode itself.
•Torchwood Season Zero (http://archiveofourown.org/works/914699) – an imagining of an entire pre-canon series of episodes, laying the groundwork for the team as we meet them at the start of the real show.
•Care and Feeding (http://archiveofourown.org/works/884306) (and the story that inspired it, Nice Coat by adina_atl – http://adina-atl.livejournal.com/130942.html) – such a lovely backstory for Jack’s coat (hint: it’s not just a coat); also, Sam weaves backstory OCs like nobody else, creating in just a few deft lines characters who feel so canonical and real, you think maybe you just somehow missed the mention of them on the show
•Sleeping My Way to the Top (sam-storyteller.dreamwidth.org/118661.html) – Ianto understands Jack and the burden of leadership maybe even better than Jack does (post-Exit Wounds)
•All The Things I've Lost and Found (http://archiveofourown.org/works/811922/chapters/1533457) – another lovely take on Jack and Ianto's relationship, involving accidental time travel and an epistolary love story
•Dresser (http://archiveofourown.org/works/729633/chapters/1355374) – Jack, Ianto and Jack's coat
•No Word for Yes (http://archiveofourown.org/works/744384) – in which Ianto notices and files away every time Jack uses a word from his own native language
•The Harkness Variations (http://archiveofourown.org/works/763704) – ten AU snippets of how Jack’s life might have been – some lovely, some heartbreaking, all clever
And all of Sam's longfic, especially:
•The Theory of Two Centres (http://sam-storyteller.dreamwidth.org/124595.html) – "Ianto Jones woke up in a bed that wasn't his, in a flat that wasn't his, wearing clothing that definitely wasn't his." Any description I would try to give wouldn't do it justice, but it's Jack/Ianto, and casefic, and draws on canon in clever ways, and is just everything you could want from a Torchwood fic.
•Sing Morning Out Of Night (http://archiveofourown.org/works/3206486) – Torchwood and Sarah Jane Smith kicking butt together, the Doctor being even more mysterious than usual, and a deck of alien tarot cards? Win.
•the Lo-Verse (http://archiveofourown.org/series/31518) – Ianto Jones ends up time-displaced in the 51st century, and meets a young soldier from Boeshane who is strikingly familiar...
•the Rulesverse (http://archiveofourown.org/series/38024) – Torchwood through the eyes of the new guy.
• nancybrown – another writer of extraordinary Torchwood stories; I recommend, truly, everything. A wonderful writer, brilliant at both character exploration and plotting. I love her Ianto, and Jack, and their dynamic together. Also how she writes Jack with Alice and Steven. And two OCs who are also Jack's family... Basically, just read everything by nancybrown. Here are a few recs to start off with:
nancybrown excels at writing stories that fix the heartbreak of CoE, but without simply making everything easy and pat; each of these series takes an entirely different direction on how the fix-it itself happens, but each one is clever, complex, and wonderfully plotted. My favorites, roughly in order:
•the "Straysverse" stories – and most especially "Rescues." Ianto and Steven are brought back to life, but still have to find their way home.
•the "Fake Third Season," meaning that the author borrows the characters and a few elements from CoE but creates a whole different story arc with them; the whole sequence is very much worth reading, but one that might work well as a stand-alone is The Extraterrestrial, a great retelling of "E.T." Oh, and the one that started it all: Promotion, the first of nancybrown's stories that was recced to me – after which I went on to read them all!
•the Intersections series – in which instead of dying, Ianto ends up in the future (thanks to some nefarious doings by the Time Agency) and meets a Jack who doesn't know him yet. Meanwhile, Alice Carter falls in with the Doctor's daughter Jenny and together they have adventures around the universe! These storylines intersect and re-intersect wonderfully.
•The Rabbit Hole AU – given 10 minutes to say goodbye to those he loves, instead Jack ends up changing time. He, Ianto and Lisa find a life for themselves in the rewritten timeline he returns to. Madrigal dei Traditori especially is just brilliantly plotted.
•and now some other, standalone stories by nancybrown:
•In the Future There Is No Coffee – stranded in the future, the team find themselves in an unexpected place. I don't want to give away what's so special about this story, but both the person they meet and the descriptions of the place they go are wonderful.
•Tuesday's Dead – a really clever take on the Groundhog Day plot idea!
•Got That Friday Feeling Again – speaking of seriously brilliant takes on Groundhog Day... Because who better to suffer through learning to become a nicer person through endless iterations of the same day than...Owen? (Also known as: "That One Trip to Glasgow Where Jack and Ianto Had Sex Five Thousand Times in One Day.")
•These Are the Days (of miracle and wonder) – a sweet and thoughtful team fic.
• You Picked Up the Phone on the Seventeeth Ring – a good example of a lighthearted, deliberately trope-y fic. (And/or an excuse for Jack/Ianto shenanigans!)
•In Plain Sight – aaah, I want to say what makes this little fic brilliant, but that would give away everything. Just read!
•...and then just go ahead and read everything: http://nancybrown.livejournal.com/17768.html
• That's What You Get by rexluscus and nancybrown (https://www.whofic.com/viewstory.php?sid=47135) – everything you could ever want from a laugh-out-loud hilarious crackfic about the whole team accidentally ending up in a casino in the Vegas system, thanks to John Hart and a mistake with his vortex manipulator. Questionable alien hallucinogenic substances, dubious alien marital practices, highly satisfying use of tropes. Also, LOLcats.
• Stargazing and Truth-Telling by earlybloomingparentheses (http://archiveofourown.org/works/1589426) – while Jack is away on a mission to an unknown galaxy, Ianto and Gwen engage in a bout of "radical honesty" and understanding about the complexities of a life lived around Jack Harkness. From a writer who gets these characters, perfectly. Every bit of headcanon here seems to me exactly right.
• Pocket Watch Boy by Mhalachai (http://archiveofourown.org/works/158803/chapters/229024) – It's "Ianto is a Time Lord" fic. And it's so good.
• Signals Into Space by lionessvalenti (https://archiveofourown.org/works/297015) – Jack invites Ianto along to Alice's house for Christmas; a lovely portrait of Jack and Ianto, Jack and his family, Jack's strange existence in the world and how Ianto really sees and understands him.
• A Pair of Jacks by donutsweeper (donutsweeper.livejournal.com/31744.html) – a Jack/Jack drabble. (A time-traveler who flirts with anything that moves, and inevitably sometimes crosses his own temporal path? Of course he does!)
• Core Values by AJHall (http://archiveofourown.org/works/805391) – "Torchwood has, surprisingly enough, a HR department. And the lot of the Torchwood HR department is not a happy one." Oh, man. Oh, man. Can you imagine being the person who has to write directives explaining to Torchwood Three why their shenanigans are ridiculous?
• Acquaint Me With Your Fuck-Ups by paperclipbitch (http://paperclipbitch.livejournal.com/101438.html) – a bit of Suzie backstory, where she's the one who gets Ianto onto Jack's radar and into Torchwood.
• Tryst by bendingsignpost (http://archiveofourown.org/works/335163) – a lovely but very bittersweet story in which a future Jack visits back to see Ianto one more time.
• Among the porcelain, among some talk of you and me by Lenore (https://archiveofourown.org/works/247425) – Jack visits a very old Ianto, and remembers their first date.
OTHER OTHER OTHER
• Lost Loves by Sam Starbuck (http://sam-storyteller.dreamwidth.org/164229.html) – technically set in the White Collar universe, but that doesn’t really matter – you’re here for the other part of the story, which I can’t tell you about. As Sam says, "This is a crossover but to explain the other fandoms would seriously ruin everything."
• Trying to Communicate by Sam Starbuck (http://sam-storyteller.dreamwidth.org/131686.html) – technically a Torchwood fic, but again, that doesn’t matter. What matters is the LOLcats! A brilliant, crack-y classic.
• Pairing Pendragon/Merlin by Anon at the Merlin Kink Meme (http://merlinkinkmeme.livejournal.com/12537.html) – officially in the fandom of BBC Merlin and also a show called Camelot that I'd never even heard of, but you don't need to be familiar with them; this story is more a fanfic of fandom in general, a love-letter to fic-writing and being a fan and the writer/beta relationship. And it's so much fun! Also available as a podfic by lunchee (http://archiveofourown.org/works/402425).
• This American Life episode 141: A Whole New World. (Transcript) by NaomiK (http://archiveofourown.org/works/5491805) – wonderful multifandom fic (Harry Potter, Narnia, Captain America, briefly Good Night, Mr Tom...and National Public Radio RPF!) in which Ira Glass and the team at This American Life interview three characters in three different fandoms on what it was like to step suddenly into a different world – a very clever concept executed seamlessly; captures the characters' voices and the tone of a This American Life episode.
• As Far as Curses Go by natcat5 (https://archiveofourown.org/works/5021848) – basically the Avengers characters crossed over with the concept of the Golden Compass universe, and it makes for an excellent read even for someone (me) who is barely familiar with the Avengers characters. Very clever, and good fun!
. . . . .
...which means: everything that's not Harry Potter! This has now split off as a separate wing from my main recs post, because the original post got too big. :-)
This particular recs list right here includes: Merlin, Torchwood, Cabin Pressure, White Collar, a few recs in some other fandoms (Firefly, His Dark Materials, Narnia, Fairy Tales, even Calvin and Hobbes!) and some especially fun ones I refer to as “other other other.”
MERLIN
• stories by rageprufrock, especially Drastically Redefining Protocol (http://www.glitterati.talkoncorners.net/drp/drp.html) – the great classic, a modern-day AU in which Arthur is the Prince of Wales and Merlin is a medical student. Also available in a wonderful podfic by lunchee (http://archiveofourown.org/works/402449). Story also has sequels (http://archiveofourown.org/series/211), of which the best is Part 6, Five Secrets That Ought to Be Kept (and One for the Road)
• The Curious Incident of the Harpies in Broad Daylight, or, the Abbreviated Adventures of Gwaine and Lancelot, Not-Quite-Knights For Hire (While We Wait For Arthur To Become King) by kaydeefalls (http://kaydeefalls.livejournal.com/618140.html) – one of my all-time favorites! A delightful romp featuring Lancelot and Gwaine, hanging around, getting up to things, until they can become knights. Also a wonderful podfic by lunchee (http://archiveofourown.org/works/403776)
• There Are No Gays in Football by Malu_3 (https://archiveofourown.org/works/730238) – holy wow, how did I not discover this stunning classic until 2018? Read it, read it, read it – regardless of whether you care about football; regardless even of whether you ever watched Merlin, frankly! Arthur is an up and coming footballer for Camelot FC (owned by his father Uther, naturally). It’s only when he falls for brilliant physiotherapist Merlin that Arthur starts to think it might be worth struggling against the restrictive norms of the football world to come out. A beautiful love story, a beautiful portrait of Arthur and Merlin, masterfully written down to the sentence level.
• All the stories by rosemaryandrue, especially
• Thrift (http://camelotsolstice.livejournal.com/43745.html) – this, not the actual later seasons of the actual show, I take as my canon.
• A New Low (http://rosemaryandrue.livejournal.com/72686.html) – a terrific modern-day AU. In which the prompt “diabetic!Merlin stuck in a lift with Arthur” grows into a wonderful romance.
• Shake Your Windows and Rattle Your Walls (http://rosemaryandrue.livejournal.com/71729.html) and sequel Were You Up For Pendragon? – 1960s Oxford, in which Arthur is a Tory politician and Merlin is a Marxist.
• Let Us Dare by kianspo (https://archiveofourown.org/works/276745) – in a Camelot where Uther died in Arthur’s infancy and Arthur has grown up always knowing about Merlin’s magic, there are still adventures to embark on, dangers to battle…and Arthur still has to figure out Merlin’s heart. Lovely, fun and very romantic!
• more fics by Malu_3, e.g.:
• Letters to Nemeth (https://archiveofourown.org/works/5338286) – a beautiful series of interconnected chapters telling love stories between women from the Arthurian era to the present day, and eventually bringing Merlin and Arthur together.
• For Starters (https://archiveofourown.org/works/1144678) – wonderful AU where Uther runs a restaurant, Arthur of course works in the family business, and Merlin grows up hero-worshipping an older Arthur…until they both meet again as adults.
• A Word Apart (https://archiveofourown.org/works/3546455) – in a world where everyone has soulmates whose names appear on their skin, Merlin and Arthur aren’t each other’s soulmates…or so it seems?
• Simple Pleasures (Mistletoe Story) (https://archiveofourown.org/works/3259586) – Freyja has been trying for centuries to get them all back together in the same time and place: Arthur, Merlin, Gwen and Morgana. Now, in the modern day, all the pieces finally seem to be in place.
• Come Soon (https://archiveofourown.org/works/10892535) – Merlin has been living as a merman, when he finds Arthur again in the modern day.
• Ordinary Secrets (https://archiveofourown.org/works/4928179) – Arthur is ticklish, and Merlin has strong feelings about a hat.
• more fics by kianspo, e.g.:
• Same River Twice (https://archiveofourown.org/works/315298) – Arthur is a prince (modern-day) who met Merlin when they were teenagers, but let him slip away…until they meet again by chance.
• A Change of Pace (https://archiveofourown.org/works/426567) – Arthur is a stuck in a boring finance job by his sense of loyalty to his father, Merlin is a brilliant advertising/design person, they come and shake each other’s lives up.
• Advisor to the King by copperbadge (https://archiveofourown.org/works/823601) – Merlin gets fed up and finally reveals his magic to Arthur; as Arthur finds his footing as a new king, Merlin finds a place for him in Camelot, the palace, and Arthur and Gwen’s lives.
• Giving Thanks by such-heights (http://such-heights.dreamwidth.org/68078.html) – Arthur finally tries to thank Merlin, and thus Merlin thinks Arthur is losing his mind
• and two fun modern-day university-student Merlin/Arthur AUs:
• Possibly Maybe I'm Falling For You by lady_ragnell (http://lady-ragnell.livejournal.com/12554.html)
• The Student Prince by FayJay (http://archiveofourown.org/works/91885/chapters/125138)
FIREFLY
• Testing by Aria (http://archiveofourown.org/works/13056) – Testing, testing. Space is working. Serenity and her crew from River's perspective.
HIS DARK MATERIALS
• The Ivory Horn by kaydeefalls (http://yuletidetreasure.org/archive/40/theivory.html) – an amazing story of Will from His Dark Materials meeting… but to say what the crossover is would give everything away :-)
NARNIA
• Queen of Narnia by kaydeefalls (http://kaydeefalls.livejournal.com/343998.html) – series of ficlets about Susan never getting back to Narnia
FAIRY TALES
• Verity by rosemaryandrue (http://yuletidetreasure.org/archive/76/verity.html) – The first time Princess Verity rides out into the forest, she meets a boy making a tower out of bricks. (A genderswap Rapunzel and a fantastic story!)
• Queer as the Fork when the Knife Ran away with the Spoon by fresne (http://archiveofourown.org/works/37247) – “Beauty is a black, gay, magic using (but not abusing) man with a texture fetish and a knack for roses. Beast doesn't quite know what to think (but he kind of likes it).” A beautiful, creative urban fantasy retelling of Beauty and the Beast.
CALVIN AND HOBBES
• The Sandwich Story by Meredith (http://archiveofourown.org/works/1625354) Calvin, Hobbes, and the bittersweetness of growing up.
CABIN PRESSURE
• The Z Episode by Ariana DeVere (http://arianedevere.livejournal.com/57283.html) – a highly satisfying solution to the question of the Z episode (written before the actual Zurich episode).
• Bloop by innie (https://archiveofourown.org/works/2663762) – an utterly sweet story from Arthur's POV. About, among many other things, understanding people, and also fish.
• Measure for Measure by c3mf and Linguini (http://archiveofourown.org/works/635251) – some backstory on Douglas, alcoholism, and the power of Arthur’s friendship.
• Cabin Pressure! The Musical! by fractionallyfoxtrot (http://archiveofourown.org/works/515281/chapters/909343) – yes, it's a Cabin Pressure musical!
WHITE COLLAR
• everything by Sam Starbuck, aka Copperbadge (http://sam-storyteller.dreamwidth.org/154868.html#whitecollar) but especially: Exquisite; Four Meals; A Long, Strange Story; Jeffrey Nullier’s “Man With Fedora”; Eternal Springtime
• Quid Pro Quo by Lenore (https://archiveofourown.org/works/40164) – Neal kisses Elizabeth, so Peter kisses Neal. (And Neal is totally thrown off balance by both Peter and Elizabeth, and it’s very sweet!)
• The Gambler by innie (https://archiveofourown.org/works/57360) – over the course of their marriage, Elizabeth is very good at sentences that start "Bet you can't..." and Peter is very good at losing those bets (but in the sweetest possible way). Peter/Elizabeth, eventual Peter/Elizabeth/Neal.
TORCHWOOD
• No surprise here: Sam Starbuck (aka Copperbadge) writes the loveliest Torchwood stories. Especially:
•If We Haven’t Got Nightingales, Glenn Miller Will Suffice (http://archiveofourown.org/works/637293) – in which Sam creates a beautiful backstory for what Torchwood’s Hub really is, and how the Hub is Jack’s one true love. When I bookmarked this for myself, what I wrote was “beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.”
•First Day (http://archiveofourown.org/works/875239) – fills in the missing pieces around Ianto joining the team, the before and after of “Cyberwoman” and Jack helping Ianto slowly pick up the pieces of himself and his life – basically, the only thing I’ve come across that makes Jack and Ianto’s seemingly sudden shift into an established relationship make perfect sense.
•Not What You’re Thinking (http://archiveofourown.org/works/846805) – Sam, who is brilliant, has a perfect explanation for what Jack and Ianto’s canonical reference to “naked hide and seek” actually means…and what it has to do with Ianto’s stopwatch.
•Carnival Show (http://sam-storyteller.dreamwidth.org/115057.html) – Sam’s rewrite of the episode “From out of the Rain” that, predictably, is better than the episode itself.
•Torchwood Season Zero (http://archiveofourown.org/works/914699) – an imagining of an entire pre-canon series of episodes, laying the groundwork for the team as we meet them at the start of the real show.
•Care and Feeding (http://archiveofourown.org/works/884306) (and the story that inspired it, Nice Coat by adina_atl – http://adina-atl.livejournal.com/130942.html) – such a lovely backstory for Jack’s coat (hint: it’s not just a coat); also, Sam weaves backstory OCs like nobody else, creating in just a few deft lines characters who feel so canonical and real, you think maybe you just somehow missed the mention of them on the show
•Sleeping My Way to the Top (sam-storyteller.dreamwidth.org/118661.html) – Ianto understands Jack and the burden of leadership maybe even better than Jack does (post-Exit Wounds)
•All The Things I've Lost and Found (http://archiveofourown.org/works/811922/chapters/1533457) – another lovely take on Jack and Ianto's relationship, involving accidental time travel and an epistolary love story
•Dresser (http://archiveofourown.org/works/729633/chapters/1355374) – Jack, Ianto and Jack's coat
•No Word for Yes (http://archiveofourown.org/works/744384) – in which Ianto notices and files away every time Jack uses a word from his own native language
•The Harkness Variations (http://archiveofourown.org/works/763704) – ten AU snippets of how Jack’s life might have been – some lovely, some heartbreaking, all clever
And all of Sam's longfic, especially:
•The Theory of Two Centres (http://sam-storyteller.dreamwidth.org/124595.html) – "Ianto Jones woke up in a bed that wasn't his, in a flat that wasn't his, wearing clothing that definitely wasn't his." Any description I would try to give wouldn't do it justice, but it's Jack/Ianto, and casefic, and draws on canon in clever ways, and is just everything you could want from a Torchwood fic.
•Sing Morning Out Of Night (http://archiveofourown.org/works/3206486) – Torchwood and Sarah Jane Smith kicking butt together, the Doctor being even more mysterious than usual, and a deck of alien tarot cards? Win.
•the Lo-Verse (http://archiveofourown.org/series/31518) – Ianto Jones ends up time-displaced in the 51st century, and meets a young soldier from Boeshane who is strikingly familiar...
•the Rulesverse (http://archiveofourown.org/series/38024) – Torchwood through the eyes of the new guy.
• nancybrown – another writer of extraordinary Torchwood stories; I recommend, truly, everything. A wonderful writer, brilliant at both character exploration and plotting. I love her Ianto, and Jack, and their dynamic together. Also how she writes Jack with Alice and Steven. And two OCs who are also Jack's family... Basically, just read everything by nancybrown. Here are a few recs to start off with:
nancybrown excels at writing stories that fix the heartbreak of CoE, but without simply making everything easy and pat; each of these series takes an entirely different direction on how the fix-it itself happens, but each one is clever, complex, and wonderfully plotted. My favorites, roughly in order:
•the "Straysverse" stories – and most especially "Rescues." Ianto and Steven are brought back to life, but still have to find their way home.
•the "Fake Third Season," meaning that the author borrows the characters and a few elements from CoE but creates a whole different story arc with them; the whole sequence is very much worth reading, but one that might work well as a stand-alone is The Extraterrestrial, a great retelling of "E.T." Oh, and the one that started it all: Promotion, the first of nancybrown's stories that was recced to me – after which I went on to read them all!
•the Intersections series – in which instead of dying, Ianto ends up in the future (thanks to some nefarious doings by the Time Agency) and meets a Jack who doesn't know him yet. Meanwhile, Alice Carter falls in with the Doctor's daughter Jenny and together they have adventures around the universe! These storylines intersect and re-intersect wonderfully.
•The Rabbit Hole AU – given 10 minutes to say goodbye to those he loves, instead Jack ends up changing time. He, Ianto and Lisa find a life for themselves in the rewritten timeline he returns to. Madrigal dei Traditori especially is just brilliantly plotted.
•and now some other, standalone stories by nancybrown:
•In the Future There Is No Coffee – stranded in the future, the team find themselves in an unexpected place. I don't want to give away what's so special about this story, but both the person they meet and the descriptions of the place they go are wonderful.
•Tuesday's Dead – a really clever take on the Groundhog Day plot idea!
•Got That Friday Feeling Again – speaking of seriously brilliant takes on Groundhog Day... Because who better to suffer through learning to become a nicer person through endless iterations of the same day than...Owen? (Also known as: "That One Trip to Glasgow Where Jack and Ianto Had Sex Five Thousand Times in One Day.")
•These Are the Days (of miracle and wonder) – a sweet and thoughtful team fic.
• You Picked Up the Phone on the Seventeeth Ring – a good example of a lighthearted, deliberately trope-y fic. (And/or an excuse for Jack/Ianto shenanigans!)
•In Plain Sight – aaah, I want to say what makes this little fic brilliant, but that would give away everything. Just read!
•...and then just go ahead and read everything: http://nancybrown.livejournal.com/17768.html
• That's What You Get by rexluscus and nancybrown (https://www.whofic.com/viewstory.php?sid=47135) – everything you could ever want from a laugh-out-loud hilarious crackfic about the whole team accidentally ending up in a casino in the Vegas system, thanks to John Hart and a mistake with his vortex manipulator. Questionable alien hallucinogenic substances, dubious alien marital practices, highly satisfying use of tropes. Also, LOLcats.
• Stargazing and Truth-Telling by earlybloomingparentheses (http://archiveofourown.org/works/1589426) – while Jack is away on a mission to an unknown galaxy, Ianto and Gwen engage in a bout of "radical honesty" and understanding about the complexities of a life lived around Jack Harkness. From a writer who gets these characters, perfectly. Every bit of headcanon here seems to me exactly right.
• Pocket Watch Boy by Mhalachai (http://archiveofourown.org/works/158803/chapters/229024) – It's "Ianto is a Time Lord" fic. And it's so good.
• Signals Into Space by lionessvalenti (https://archiveofourown.org/works/297015) – Jack invites Ianto along to Alice's house for Christmas; a lovely portrait of Jack and Ianto, Jack and his family, Jack's strange existence in the world and how Ianto really sees and understands him.
• A Pair of Jacks by donutsweeper (donutsweeper.livejournal.com/31744.html) – a Jack/Jack drabble. (A time-traveler who flirts with anything that moves, and inevitably sometimes crosses his own temporal path? Of course he does!)
• Core Values by AJHall (http://archiveofourown.org/works/805391) – "Torchwood has, surprisingly enough, a HR department. And the lot of the Torchwood HR department is not a happy one." Oh, man. Oh, man. Can you imagine being the person who has to write directives explaining to Torchwood Three why their shenanigans are ridiculous?
• Acquaint Me With Your Fuck-Ups by paperclipbitch (http://paperclipbitch.livejournal.com/101438.html) – a bit of Suzie backstory, where she's the one who gets Ianto onto Jack's radar and into Torchwood.
• Tryst by bendingsignpost (http://archiveofourown.org/works/335163) – a lovely but very bittersweet story in which a future Jack visits back to see Ianto one more time.
• Among the porcelain, among some talk of you and me by Lenore (https://archiveofourown.org/works/247425) – Jack visits a very old Ianto, and remembers their first date.
OTHER OTHER OTHER
• Lost Loves by Sam Starbuck (http://sam-storyteller.dreamwidth.org/164229.html) – technically set in the White Collar universe, but that doesn’t really matter – you’re here for the other part of the story, which I can’t tell you about. As Sam says, "This is a crossover but to explain the other fandoms would seriously ruin everything."
• Trying to Communicate by Sam Starbuck (http://sam-storyteller.dreamwidth.org/131686.html) – technically a Torchwood fic, but again, that doesn’t matter. What matters is the LOLcats! A brilliant, crack-y classic.
• Pairing Pendragon/Merlin by Anon at the Merlin Kink Meme (http://merlinkinkmeme.livejournal.com/12537.html) – officially in the fandom of BBC Merlin and also a show called Camelot that I'd never even heard of, but you don't need to be familiar with them; this story is more a fanfic of fandom in general, a love-letter to fic-writing and being a fan and the writer/beta relationship. And it's so much fun! Also available as a podfic by lunchee (http://archiveofourown.org/works/402425).
• This American Life episode 141: A Whole New World. (Transcript) by NaomiK (http://archiveofourown.org/works/5491805) – wonderful multifandom fic (Harry Potter, Narnia, Captain America, briefly Good Night, Mr Tom...and National Public Radio RPF!) in which Ira Glass and the team at This American Life interview three characters in three different fandoms on what it was like to step suddenly into a different world – a very clever concept executed seamlessly; captures the characters' voices and the tone of a This American Life episode.
• As Far as Curses Go by natcat5 (https://archiveofourown.org/works/5021848) – basically the Avengers characters crossed over with the concept of the Golden Compass universe, and it makes for an excellent read even for someone (me) who is barely familiar with the Avengers characters. Very clever, and good fun!
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