Do Wizards Dream of Magical Sheep by Keelywolfe

Dead is dead, unless you're a wizard. Then things can get...complicated.

Keelywolfe's story is dark-ish, and there's a thread of claustrophobia in there that worked very nicely. I'm a sucker for well-done desperation, and that comes across wonderfully.

The vast majority of Sirius/Remus doesn't work for me, because either they're too happypuppyjoypuppy, or they're way too angsty. This story has not the overblown emo angst that is sadly too common in fanfic, but just the right amount of darkness to work very well.

(Damn you, Keelywolfe, for making me want to read more Sirius/Remus, even tho I know most stories will make me headdesk. *goes to dig out previously rec'd Sirius/Remus story for rereading*)

Twenty Four Hours With a Rodneysaur by maryavatar

*points to subject line*

Yes, SGA seems to be the fandom that produces lots of weird crack. However, it's *good* crack. And it's a really cute story.

Role Reversal by jmtorres

So once upon a time, [info]stariceling and I were talking about how Schwarz gets to kidnap members of Weiß and have sex with them all the damn time. It's practically a genre of Weiß Kreuz fiction. We decided this simply wasn't fair to Weiß. Weiß needed the opportunity to kidnap and have sex with Schwarz all the damn time, too.

*g*

So You Think You Can Dance by fourth_rose

When McGonagall gave her "Swans and lions" speech in the GoF movie, [info]cloudlessnights turned to me and whispered: "I'd love to know what Snape is telling the Slytherins right now." Well – here you go…

The story made me giggle at the mental images it gave me. Enjoy.

Depending on how long you've been online, you might have seen the list of the 213 Things Skippy is no longer allowed to do in the US Army before (if not, read it, because it's damn funny).

There are 2 SGA versions of this list:

A general one: 104 Things Skippy is No Longer Allowed to Do in the Pegasus Galaxy, by 3jane.

A Zelenka-focussed one: 100 Things Zippy Is Not Allowed To Do In The Pegasus Galaxy, by spubba

Warning: remove all drinks/cats/other easily scared creatures from your vincinity before reading these.

(also, if you want to know what the Goatse is that is references in the Zelenka list: click here. VERY VERY NSFW. Also, I'm not responsible for any mental trauma you suffer for clicking this link. I mean it. And you know I'm not easily squicked, and *that*? *ICK*).

Stealing Harry (plus sequels: Tales from the Riverhouse, Laocoon's Children - just read down the page, or keep hitting 'previous entry' on the individual entries)

This is a really epic AU, and - in my opinion, at least *g* - one of the best AUs out there, in terms of changing one little detail in the past, and then creating a whole new storyline, but still following the canon storyline of the books.

In Stealing Harry, Sirius took a wrong turn in 1981, and instead of Sirius, it's Lucius Malfoy who was sentenced to Azkaban. 8 years later, young Harry comes into the bookstore that Sirius own (and Remus runs). It probably won't surprise you when I say that yes, he ends up living with them. The Laocoon's Children stories are about Harry's years at Hogwarts, and his adventures with his 3 best friends: Neville, Draco and Padma.

The re-writings are very well done, keeping the basic plot of the books, but fitting them to the new circumstances.

Despite the fact that there's slash in the story, I'd really recommend this to any gen fan as well, as the pairings are not really the focus of this story, although there is a heavy Sirius/Remus plot running through them all - but they are not the only pairing.

I spent half of this weekend rereading all 3 stories, and it's a really great AU to get lost in. I really hope there will be more stories,

(the last 2 parts of Laocoon's Children II aren't linked properly, but as of right now, they're the 2 latest entries in the sam_storyteller LJ, so they're easy to find.

Fix you by kitakatzz

This is a really well-done ensemble casts vid which crosses SGA and Serenity. Don't let the cross-over-ness put you off - it's a very nicely-done vid, that I've been watching over and over. I download a lot of vids, but very few impress me like this one.

(do heed the spoiler warning)

I've added some backdated recs that I had posted in my main LJ.

Also, all entries are now tagged by fandom. This doesn't work for HP - tags only show the last 100 entries, and there's 200+ HP recs - but for all other fandoms, that should be helpful. For HP (and for those who find the fandom abbrevations confusing), you can use the memories to find what you want.

I've changed the layout so that all tags are listed on the left: 60 fandoms. wow.

HP is no longer my main fandom, so there'll be more recs in other fandoms. I make no guarantee for daily recs, but you'll get a few each week at least.

Checking out whether all links still work still needs to be done. I don't know when I'll have the time, but it'll happen eventually.

Weird by insaneidiot

Akira is acting weird, and Hikaru is on a quest to figure out why. Waya is generally obnoxious and unhelpful.


The Rumour Mill by harukami

Hikaru discovers that rumours about possible relationships between Go rivals are common - and that there are such rumours about him and Akira.

Wonderful clueless Hikaru. Also, kinda hot. *g*


(assume spoilers for the whole manga for all stories)

Twin Peaks

Blue Velvet to Moon River: this manages to capture the feeling and mood of the show brilliantly, and Cooper and Audrey are very in character. There's also a very well-done comparison between Audrey and Laura. Highly recommended.

Sandman

The Ties that Bind: utterly wonderful story featuring all of the Endless, but especially Destruction (and spun around Orpheus). Has some brilliant scenes.
[Delirium] gave Despair a hug, too, since she was right there anyway. Despair looked down shyly, not used to being touched or welcomed, but knowing again, for a brief moment, what delight was, and how its existence made her realm that much worse to those mired in it.

Petshop of Horrors

Follow: what happened after the end of the manga: Leon is looking for D
Distant: goes AU at the beginning of manga 10: Leon and D exchange letters

I love both of them, and honestly can't decide which of them I prefer. Both bring Leon and D together, but in different ways.


***

Here's the QuickSearch link that'll list all stories posted for 2005, sorted by fandom. Now go read!

Neverwhere

Time and Again: very beautiful story about Door (with bits of Richard), but telling you anything about it would spoil it.

Ladyhawke

Falling Towards Grace: a prequel to the movie (which was the reason I had a crush on both Rutger Hauer and Michelle Pfeiffer as a teen... *has urge to watch movie again*).

Brought to Light: this one is set after the movie.

Koko wa Greenwood

Happiness Through Good Works: wonderfully in character, and with a great Shinobu voice. Poor Hasukawa...

Some like it Hot

Orchidectomy: This is utterly *brilliant*. It's so incredibly in character, and the sex scene! *bwah!* Not to mention the ending!! Read this - if you even have the vaguest memory of this movie, read this.

Rome

semper hic erro: There's 4 or 5 Rome stories posted, but this one is my favorite. Vorenus/Pullo - of course. *g* This one has spoilers, btw.

Ok, I spent all of today reading my way through the new Yuletide stories (I'd guesstimate that I read about a third of the stories, possibly slightly more). There were *many* good ones, but the following are the ones that made me squee out loud:

Brimstone

Not by Bread Alone: after Zeke has completed his mission. So very nice, with a tiny crossover touch that's just the icing on the cake. The world needs more Brimstone stories.

Calvin and Hobbes

Transmogrification: Because this is a brilliant version of GrowingUp!Calvin. And because the end is *BWHA*.

Bible

The Night: Because it's Eve/Lilith femmeslash, and because it's gorgeous, and *wow*. I love the way this is written around/twists the story that is in the Bible.

Dogma

Questioning: very well-done 10-years-after story, with dead-on character voices. I think I'm pretty much going to consider this my own personal canon on what-happens-later.

The Priest That Tastes The World: another story that made me *squee* madly - I adore Metatron, and I've always wanted to read God/Metatron, and here it is. It's brilliant, and funny, and it made me go a little bit "aww", too.

The Lion in Winter

On Warm Earth and Cold Stone: Richard and Phillip - in 1183, 1188 and 1180. Anyone who hasn't seen the movie has to run and watch it now, btw.

OMG! Someone has written the sex scene for the end of Jane Eyre. And I love it. Because yes, Edward/Jane speaks to my squishy side, and this made me grin and squee and !!!

"I must admit my husband of six hours that I am a bit nervous. Mrs. Fairfax spoke with me. Before. Therefore, I know what to expect of a marriage bed." Her toes curl on the cold floor. "It sounded fairly dreadful, but she assured me that it isn't and that I can think of England if I wish, but I don't particularly wish to think of England. So I find myself not quite knowing what to do with myself."

Link: http://www.yuletidetreasure.org/archive/15/mustardseed.html

Inspired by a HP story that totally sucked me in, I decided to give the merry_smutmas community a try, and found that yep, I'm still mostly fallen out of HP - I skimmed nearly every story, because I just couldn't get into them enough to feel a connection to the characters. That's always the problem once I've fallen out of a fandom that used to be a main fandom: only really really exceptionally stories will make me care about the characters.

Anyway... I found 4 stories that *did* pull me in:

Bound and Determined: Snape/Harry. Wasn't quite sure whether to rec this or not, because while enjoyable, it felt too rushed to me. I'd have liked this at about double the size - things just went too fast and too smoothly. Still, it kept me sucked in enough that I read all of it without skimming, so I figure I'll rec it as well.

Nothing He Ever Wanted: Snape/Filch. Very nicely done, and bonus-plus points for the pairing - I love Snape/Filch, but there are way too few stories for them. The story left me with a wide smile on my face.

The Fourth Year: very entertaining, nicely long Snape/Harry. Has some great quotes, wonderful details, very good characterization, great SnapeSnark. If you're a fan of this pairing at all, this should go on your 'must-read' list.

sea change: Draco/Ron, set after HBP. Works amazingly well. I've never been overly fond of Ron (mostly, he bores me), but the author managed to make me like him a lot, and the setup makes the pairing believable. Also, the sex scene is *hot*. I'd have liked for the story to go on a bit longer - I wanna know what happens next - but even so, it's a very very good read.

I can't decide whether I like The Fourth Year or sea change better. So everyone should read both!

I more or less accidentally started reading HP again - accidentally because I saw someone's icon, and it looked very interesting:



So I checked out her UserInfo, and found that yes, it's an icon for a story of hers. The person in question is ac1d6urn, and the story is 'Price of Magic', found in her memories. It's Snape/Harry, and it's *gorgeous*.

When Harry Potter died, twin wands’ explosion wiped Europe clean of magic. Enchantment-free, Gringotts collapsed into a mass grave for goblin bodies. Pixie corpses covered the meadows. Romanians buried their last dragon.
Wizards remained.
Thousands filled muggle streets with useless chanting, unable to return home through the wards.
They had nothing left but pride.
Remember that when watching an elderly redheaded waitress trying to make a living, or her daughter taunted by uni lads for her strange ways of speaking. Remember when passing your sallow-faced, somber neighbor who prefers candles to electricity or when finding an unexpected sky-blue twinkle under the matted hair of a homeless man.
Pride was the only reason they survived.

I've always been a sucker for futurefic where magic has disappeared or at least been severely limited, and to find such a story, and have it be Snape/Harry, *and* have it be wonderfully in character... well, it was a very very nice Christmas find.

"Look, all I know is, I have to bring magic back. I broke it and I have to fix it. You will have to help me, Snape, one way or another."
"I am not being needlessly contrary, Potter, you just happen to be incorrect, irrelevant, and deceased. There isn’t a way."

The only drawback is that it's still a WiP. 8 of 20 parts are posted, and they're over 450K, so that's quite a bit of story to get your teeth into. I'm *so* looking forward to when the story is finished (it's going to be hell to stay away, because I want to wait 'til then I read any more of it).

Still, if you want something SS/HP, long, good, in-character, with a very interesting plot... *read this*.

I just posted the Weiß Kreuz fandom overview to crack_van, where I'll be doing WK recommendations during the month of February.

Just in case some of you might want to take a look at a very slashy anime fandom that has produced quite a few high-quality stories.

And here are all the recs I did: WK crack_van memories

there's a new part of The Seduction of the Desert Prince.

!!!!!!!

(if you have no clue what I'm talking about: it's a beautiful Highlander AU, Methos/Duncan, with the following summary: "The tale of a beautiful young Immortal, captured and enslaved, the Immortal desert chieftain who seeks to own him body and soul, and the struggle of wills that ensues." It's been a WiP since... I dunno. 1999?)

Here's a story that I loved immensely: Monster Trucks, Roadside Weeds, and the Art of Seducing Duo Maxwell by Sol.

Go read.

Tea and Biscuits by WesleysGirl, Byrne and Magpie

Ok, so Wes, Giles and Spike are pretty much the main 3 reasons I loved BtVS and AtS as much as I did. They were by far my favorite characters (I also loved Faith, and Buffy and Xander and Anya and especially Tara grew on me, but they're nothing compared to those 3).

T&B is mostly an email format story, which makes for occasionally awkward reading, but it also makes me giggle, and makes me read as fast as I can because I enjoy it a lot and want to know what's going to happen next (I'm not finished yet, I'm in the middle of Arc 2).

If you can get past the fact that most of it is in email format (tho there are also normal story-parts), and like these 3 characters, then give the story a try.

Monster Trucks, Roadside Weeds, and the Art of Seducing Duo Maxwell by Sol_1056

Heero is hopelessly in love with a clueless Duo, and Trowa decides it's time to help things along.

absolutely wonderful and entertaining. Made me giggle a lot while reading it. I really liked Trowa's voice, which is unusual for me. Everyone is nicely in character, as well.

Read! if you like GW at all, read!

Untitled, by curia_regis

er... can't think of a thing to say that might convince you to read it if you're not the morbid type who's going to be attracted because of the pairing anyway.

by srichard

To Remus' dismay, Argus just isn't in the mood.

oohh, nice and hot. short (sniff), but just enough bits around the sex to make me happy.

great, another pairing I'll hardly ever find good fic for

Sinuation by ThebanBand

it's a photomanip, but a very nicely done one.

Left Out by mousapelli

Sirius isn't, much as he'd like to be.

hot, yet disturbing. Not too long.

Songs of Innocence and Experience: Five Things That Schwarz Never Lost by toscas_kiss

I'm extremely fond of 'Five Things' stories, so I was happy to see a story for Schwarz. These are some interesting alternative possibilities (and liriel_ and moi have long been playing with a plot idea similar to #2).

The last one made me giggle.

Ways to Fall by florahart

Harry stumbles over Draco in the Muggle world.

stumbled over this one by accident, and ended up liking it a lot.

(if you have no idea what KKM is, I recently wrote a short intro to it here)

Elemental Addition by v_voltaire

It's really short, but cute, and made me squee quietly to myself.

KKM is my shiny new *squee*-fandom.

Purple Prose by ausmac

Mac issued a challenge, "Severus approaches Harry for the nudgenudge wink wink.". Her story made me giggle madly.

And then there's a reply from brensgrrl, Paradigm Shift, which is lovely.

Drawback: they are *way* too short.

*hopes for _long_ challenge reply*

The Cactus Where Your Heart Should Be by Jane St Clair

The summer after fifth year's kind of depressing. Draco sulks. Crabbe and Goyle amuse themselves.

Some of you will run screaming from this pairing, no matter what I say. And some of you like this pairing already, and you'll probably have read the story already.

But for those of you who're wondering if they should give it a try: do. Jane St Clair writes lovely stories, and manages to make Vincent and Gregory into more than just two cardboard bullies. The descriptions of Draco dealing with his father in Azkaban are also very nice, as are the tiny bits of Narcissa and Lucius we see.

Overall, it's just a lovely story.

Answering Machine Blues by Robyn the Snowshoe Hare

Set during 'Something Blue', people leave messages on Cordelia's answering machine.

's short, and funny.

Dances with Groos by Dolores Labouchere

The Host's mother needs to redeem her family.

*incoherently points to pairing*

...

ok, semi-coherently: OMG*SQUEE*.

The scary thing is, this *works*.

Cranberry Wine by Laura Jacquez Valentine

Amanda reflects on her relationship with Sarek.

Beautiful short story, set after the events of Amok Time.

Let's Play Together by cosmorific

very nice 500-word drabble.

I would *adore* much longer fic written this well about this threesome, but until I find it, I'm going to love this story to pieces.

An Open Letter to the Person With Whom I've Been Engaging in Various Sordid Acts, Including but Not Limited to Mutual Masturbation, Terribly Sloppy Oral Sex and Also There Was the Time That We Attempted Actual Intercourse Only to Discover It Was Horribly Awkward by weatherby

ok, with a title like this, do I really need to say anything else?

Nothing by Kielle

I never thought to look for NeverendingStory stories, and came across this one mostly be accident.

It's short, and ... not quite what you'd expect of a NS story.

I'm going to spend the rest of the evening rewatching the movie and rereading the book.

Closer by Killa and T. Jonesy
link takes you to the main page. You need to email for the password for the video page.

oh my.

I don't think I've ever seen a songvid that make me *thud* so completely as this one (or send such incoherent feedback *g*).

This also introduced me to 'Constructed Reality' vids - I had no clue there was a name for 'making up a new story with clips from a show'. The premise of this one is (referring to the ep Amok Time): What if they hadn't made it to Vulcan in time?

Watch this.


(The other TOS vids are very nice as well. And there are *Jeremiah* vids! And tons of HL ones, but I haven't watched these yet)

vid is in Quicktime. If you don't have that, it's a free download, from http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/

finished catching up with the Master and the Wolf FF, and found 2 more stories I enjoyed:


The Ties That Bind by DovielR

Answers the challenges The couple has a sexual problem and they must seek help and Because of a wayward student prank, Snape and Lupin can't move more than a few steps apart from each other for one month.

Also eventually has well-done bestiality.


Evolution by The Treacle Tart

It doesn't take a genius to know that Remus/Snape is in love with the other one. Does it?

Public Adoration by Eulalie Moire

Severus and Remus sleep together without really understanding the consequences.

This is a story from the Snape/Lupin FF, answering the challenge 'Snape is harboring a false assumption that werewolves mate for life'.

It's ... I dunno. I can't think of anything particular to point out, I just enjoyed the story a lot.

The Bridal Discussion by RiikiTikiTavi

Why is Kaoru more nervous than the average bride?

Let's just say that Megumi and stack full of shunga prints have something to do with it. Poor Kenshin.

*snicker* It was a bit predictable, but otherwise, it's one of the very few K/K stories that I've found that was both in character, and well written - and not to mention fun.


if you're never seen shunga before, here's some examples

Left my Heart by Emma Grant

Post-Hogwarts. Auror Draco Malfoy has disappeared, and Harry Potter has been sent to find him.

This Draco doesn't have any close resemblance to canon!Draco, but what I did like about the story were all the details about various US law enforcement agencies (magical and muggle). And I really enjoyed Harry's love for women. This is a good story, it's just... a bit further away from canon than I usually like.

22 parts, but they're all interlinked.

I *hate* having to save fic from LJ. Either you copy into a textfile and lose all formatting, or you save the .html and end up with all the LJ layout and all the comments. grrr.

Ashes, Ashes by Mari (ficangel)

A super virus wipes out most of the human race, leaving the survivors to face a supernatural foe that few are prepared for. Crossover with Stephen King’s ‘The Stand’.

I spent most of today [*] reading this. It's nail-bitingly good.

I've never read The Stand, but was able to follow without any problem whatsoever. Recommended if you want something long and well-written.


[*]spent the rest of the day looking at death-photography on thanatos.net. Creepy day all around...

Not In Words by Selena

Being married to Londo Mollari. Timov's story.

oh, wow.

I've always been fond of Timov, and wish there'd been more of her, so I was incredibly happy to find this story. It's very spot-on, both for Timov and Londo.

If you're a B5 fan, go read.

Tea and Crumpet by ellensmithee

*grabs readers* no, no, don't run away. This isn't icky at all. Really. Promise.

Er. Well, ok, it might be, but I just found it to be incredibly funny, and wonderfully in character. And it *works*.

Goyle's scowl slowly turned ferocious as he contemplated his problem. Crabbe had been acting strangely around him recently. The biscuit in bed thing was just a further symptom of Crabbe's mysterious ailment. Sometimes he would watch Goyle with an almost euphoric look on his face, astonishingly like the one he usually wore right before he dug into his favourite pudding.

In The End, Permanent Fixture, Moving Day, Family Foundations by anise_anise

Remus/Harry is a pairing I'm interested in, but I don't often find stories that I really like. This series, so far, is my favorite. There's bits of angst, and bits of humor, and there's very nice sex. And I also like the Sirius in these stories.

I'm going to keep an eye on this author...

No Place Like Home by jedirita

Remus's father pays him a visit at Hogwarts.

oh, ouch. That made me want to just cuddle Remus.

Settling Up by cluegirl

ok, I'm not that much into artwork, and not much into that particular style, and not that much into Lucius, but it's got the *Marquis de Carabas*!!

And yes, I can see the Marquis being one of the few people to get Lucius into that particular position...

A Ride on the Subway, The Subway Revisited and Riding Beyond the Subway by Talya Firedancer

Youji is forced to take public transport, and falls prey to a handsome pair of subway perverts. In the sequels, we get more kink (BDSM) and added Weiss characters.

Nothing but PWP smut, but it's good smut.

Remus Gets A Book by pockettheroach

2 words: extreme bibliophilia.

works amazingly well.

Memories, Fears, Desires by Isis (story) and Brevisse (art)

I've been meaning to rec this since the first time I saw it. It's a small story, but it's cute.

drabble by amberdiceless

yes, very short, but it made me snicker. And besides, I've always thought that Giles and Remus would make an interesting couple (either in slash or gen)...

ETA: found another, slashy one:

Talents, by julianelupin