Reccer's Notes: Great angst!

Reccer's Notes: I always enjoy it when there are cats on the Enterprise, and this cat in particular is perfectly suited to the ship. I love the Captain's proprietary air and his power struggles with Jim, and also that he's friends with Spock. A sweet fic with a happy ending. Contains brief animal harm but everything turns out okay.

Reccer's Notes: Soulmate-identifying marks in multiple languages, on top of being in an era when literacy is not universal. Adds that tiny frisson of uncertainty...that really just highlights the depth of Billy and Goody's devotion to each other regardless of what destiny may or may not say. Sharp and gritty, sweet and hot by turns.

Reccer's Notes: Spock is so full of yearning for his captain and every whiff he gets of Jim just winds him up tighter. Lots of great smells and feelings and urgency, and then a nice moment of comfort and understanding before things heat up again.

Reccer's Notes: I really enjoyed this spin on a soulmark AU, where the mystery soulmate turns out to be an AI. Heartwarming and lovely.

Reccer's Notes: There are almost no soulmate fics in the Jeeves universe. This 5 + 1 fic is quite lovely.

Reccer's Notes: This is a nifty take on the soulmates trope, making it more about the bonds in a team than romantic partners. Clay gradually builds the Losers out of a series of misfits, and as they click into place with the team, they develop a soulmark, with everyone's marks changing to become more complex as each Loser joins, forming a finished soulmark after Jensen turns up. It's an interesting take on the trope and there's an extra twist with the team members developing a psychic ability as their soulbond connects. I like this fic as it neatly circumvents the dubcon aspect of soulbonds, while hitting all those great TEAM feels. Perfect for the Losers.

Reccer's Notes: I think this is one of the earlier soulmate fics from the current-era fandom? And it's NEAT because it looks at the soulmate trope from a slightly different angle. Plus: it's basically fluff with just enough angst to make it even sweeter (a perfect balance).

Reccer's Notes: James T. Kirk being bested by a goose and forced to talk about his feelings is just good clean fun.

Reccer's Notes: Any well-written Calvin and Hobbes fic is going to be funny, and this one is. Calvin is really himself, his Uncle Max is perfect, and the whole fic is delightful.

Reccer's Notes: This is a sweet little story. The first chapter deals with the problem of Biffy being a friend of Bertie's, while Mable is Jeeves's niece and therefore of the serving class. The dilemma is solved and leads to a new relationship between Jeeves and Bertie. Not the typical pining/slash story, although there is a very little bit of slash.

Reccer's Notes: Short but satisfying. A series of snippets about what cooking means to each of the focus characters, very clearly written by someone who understands that Food is Important. Each one is very different, reflecting how their perspective changes over time. It a neat glimpse into each character, as well as into the larger Star Wars universe.

Reccer's Notes: I love all the moods Chris goes through here: eager, helpful, chatty, nervous, panicked, flirty. I love that Chris knows enough about Zach to ask the right questions, and that Zach knows exactly when Chris is lying, and that they know each other so well, but yet neither of them has quite figured out they're in love. And, yes, semperama wrote this based on a prompt I gave her, which just makes me love it all the more.

Reccer's Notes: This fic packs a LOT of character study and situation study into just a thousand words. And does it while Remus does the shopping.

Reccer's Notes: In my experience, it's rare for fanfiction to live up to its hype. I mean, when was the last time you saw four pages of comments on an X-Files story? Never would be the answer I'd have to give. But this fic is just as special as my fandom's response suggests. Written in 2008, it's a prequel to the second X-Files movie, but if you aren't a fan of I Want to Believe (and I'm not either), don't let that deter you.

The structure is simple: ten very short, connected vignettes. What's wonderful and unique about this fic is how it gives us a believable, detailed, note-perfect portrait of Mulder and Scully being happy, post-"The Truth."

"What's the opposite of angst?" is one of [livejournal.com profile] onpaperfirst's tags for the story. "Joy" is my answer. If you haven't read "Home, Home," what a treat you have in store. If you have read it, maybe it's time for a reread.

Reccer's Notes: Steve shows up on Bucky's sister's doorstep, and she gives him chores to do. Short and sweet.

Reccer's Notes: This is such a sweet fic, and Patty and Jillian are so delightfully themselves. I love it.

Reccer's Notes: A sweet poly fic about relationship negotiation, communicating with your eyebrows, and babysitting.

Reccer's Notes: In which the elder gods are no match for Mike Holmes and a well-crafted repair. This is a brilliant crossover, domestic in the sense that home renovation's domestic. It's pitch perfect for 'Holmes on Homes' and quietly hilarious - very much recommended.

Reccer's Notes: Aris Merquoni kindly wrote me this charming treat for Yuletide 2018. The Renovators was an Australian reality show about people competing to be Australia's best renovator. It's like GBBO but with hammers. Peter and Chris, two experts in bathroom renovation, immediately hit it off in an opposites-attract sort of way—Peter is jittery and driven, Chris is laid-back and chill—as did Peter and Lisa, a witty and stylish interior decorator. This fic imagines Peter and Chris living together post-show and inviting Lisa to help them design a basement room that Chris insists on calling a "sex dungeon". Hilarity ensues.

Reccer's Notes: Highly relatable fic about dealing with disapproving/difficult parents as an adult.

Reccer's Notes: If the unholy marriage of a) making fun of Bruce Wayne's absurd amount of money b) pointing out Walmart's horrific abuses of power and c) the wish fulfillment of Bruce Wayne using his absurd amount of money to fix some of Walmart's horrific abuses of power sounds good to you, read no further and click away! If you need further persuasion: look, I don't want to give away all the punchlines before you get there, but unpretty is so funny. The joke about Aquaman is absolute perfection. I've read this fic so many times and it never fails to make me smile.

Reccer's Notes: If you understand "Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra," you'll get how this works. It is absolutely one of the most dorky, meta, and wonderful things I've read. Not all of it makes immediate sense (at least, it didn't for me), but it's fun trying to translate. A celebration of characters who are fans of things as much as we, the readers are.

Reccer's Notes: This is delightful even without knowing Frank O-Hara - seeing an outside perspective on young Edward Gorey, an excellent drunk narrator - but if you're familiar with his poetry it is fantastic. A perfectly-pitched interweaving of the lyric and the decidedly un-lyric reality.

Reccer's Notes: This story makes me so happy. Adam and Jamie meet as kids in the school on their space station and become friends. Like, that's so many of my favorite things in one sentence already, but it's also about neurodiversity and acceptance, and it perfectly translates the grown-up Adam and Jamie into these little kids who are still figuring out who they are. A wonderful story about friendship, love, and science.

Reccer's Notes: I love the matter-of-fact-ness of this fic and how practical Sister Mary is. Because you have to have some skills other than being a nun! And of course her son takes after her.

Reccer's Notes: But because this is twings and B99 everyone comes out to Rosa, and it's just as funny and loving as the show.

Reccer's Notes: This is threesome sex pollen the Villenfranche way, which means with a pervading sense of unknowable foreboding as experienced by characters with an extremely pragmatic approach to the whole thing. Great voices, great moody atmosphere, and the sex is hot. A++ all around.

Reccer's Notes: The entire fic is an exercise in, "Oh, you thought you were a trope-savvy reader who knew where this was going? Haha, nope :D" in the most delightful way. Funny, sweet, sad, and angsty by turns, plenty of rough 'n tough gunslingers being thoroughly bamboozled, and a surprisingly sneaky exploration of several different forms of love.

Reccer's Notes: If you're interested in a well written, femslash boss/employee sex pollen fic than here you go! Agent O is so cool in this fic, it's easy to see why Molly has a crush on her. There's some praise kink too ;D The set up is so clever and feels very natural with the canon universe. Agent H has a few great lines too!

Reccer's notes: So Letterkenny isn't a fandom that you would expect to see a sex pollen story in, but with Letterkenny being a farming community, this just works. But it actually happens in a different way than you would expect. In the Letterkenny fandom, Wayne was with Angie, who cheated on him, which broke them up. The author leans on this and ties Angie's cheating with the annual angiosperm outbreak that covers Letterkenny in pollen. But Wayne being Wayne holds back, even as Daryl wants to make him happy. They eventually get there, but on Wayne's timeline, because Wayne is, if nothing else, guarded and protects his heart.

Reccer's Notes: SGA is of course the motherlode of sex pollen stories so here's another one. It's funny and very hot, in its depiction of a growling, turned on, disinhibited Sheppard. And although it's called Multi, there's a definite McShep trend there at the end, for those who like that sort of thing. :D

Reccer's Notes: Funny, sexy, and light-hearted.

Reccer's Notes: I am relatively conversant with Batman comics canon, but I've never actually read anything involving Tim and Kon. Unless you count all the fanfic I've read with Tim and Kon. Plus, Batman is perfect for sex pollen fic, because you have Poison Ivy! Literal sex pollen. As sex pollen fics go, this is fun and sweet.

Reccer's Notes: This is so sweet and funny, and it gets the character voices and tone of the show absolutely spot-on. It's like watching an episode, if the writers were in fandom and knew what sex pollen was. (Content note: Canon-typical sexism and homophobia from the characters you'd expect it from, who are canon-typically the butt of the joke.)

Reccer's Notes: I love this take on the sex pollen trope, with a uniquely X-Men edge. It's ridiculously hot, but also draws well on the contradictions that make Erik and Charles interesting. It's desperate but tender, complicated but ultimately simple.

Reccer's Notes: In canon, they are a disparate bunch of skilled gunslinger cowboys come together to defend a town. In this AU, they are a disparate bunch of skilled circus acrobats come together to thrill you and chill you and make a lot of money off of you at the bar. (Plus, for once, they are actually exactly as punk as advertised.)

This is a bit of a fandom deep cut: Poems's characterizations and character relationships for this AU do rest somewhat on two years' worth of fanon; at least for me, I know enjoy this fic so much because I've got that shared background to fill in between the lines.

But even to readers without that background, I say in all seriousness that I've never met a writer like Poems before. She does the tropes, but in a tilted, always-a-little-surreal, queered way that's just endlessly fascinating to me. And to balance out the surreality, she grounds everything in concrete sensory details that make each scene come to life with almost disconcerting realness. I'd say it's entirely possible to read this like it's a particularly colorful original vignette.

Reccer's Notes: I'm not sure what I can say here that sells this story more than the bare facts of its existence do. Of course you want wild loose cannon Jedi Knight Jack Sparrow, and his former Master James Norrington, meeting up on a distant planet to deal with the aftermath of Order 66. Cupiscent does a masterful job of translating their canon personalities into their Star Wars roles, and grounding the setting in classic Star Wars-esque details like the dubious alcohol in seedy cantinas, and the eternal quest to find/buy/borrow/steal spaceship parts. Will Turner makes a nice little cameo as the local mechanic, which is perfect.

Reccer's Notes: Laurent's a chef and Damen has biceps like rugby balls. They have not one, not two, but three or even four meet-cutes, and it's so much fun. Laurent is dry and superior, and Damen is huge and charming and enthusiastic. Nicaise is a cat.

Reccer's Notes: I love this fic so much! There's a couple fun little twists with both Percival and Credence's professions (which I won't spoil here), and the meet-cute works and works well! Also I've worked with Nork in the past and she's an absolute sweetie!

Reccer's Notes: : D

Reccer's Notes: I don't read a lot of fic that digs into how deep friendships can burrow into your heart and life, even when not maintained for long periods, and this captures it so well. It's got some quality hurt/comfort in there, too.

Reccer's Notes: Tilly is so brave and such a good friend, and Jim is super sweet and ready to support her in whatever way she needs. A+ friendship.

Reccer's Notes: I love Spock and his 75% success rate on friendship. His approach is analytical, but still so sweet and giving.

Reccer's Notes: Trying to get one over your ex by turning into an internet meme may not be the wisest course, but who cares? Vampires on the internet! :D

Reccer's Notes: A nice conon-compliant and lovely slice of life with two characters rarely featured together at any length in fics.

Reccer's Notes: Set early in the show. Amy and Rosa reading books, taking things seriously, and becoming friends—so good.

Reccer's Notes:

The closest thing to a central relationship in the movie. Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke had worked together before and that chemistry shows, which creates this entire emotional subtext that’s really fascinating for fanfic writers to explore. I love, love, love this take on their friendship, the years they spend riding together, Sam’s family helping him, Sam attempting to matchmake Goody with suitable bounty targets (!!!), all of it. Such solid, satisfying character development.

Reccer's Notes: On certain nights of the month, Rodney is visited by a fluffy black cat. A sweet story that feels kind of like a fairy tale, except it has a perfectly happy ending without the nasty middle.

Reccer's Notes: Cute jealousy fic :D

Reccer's Notes: Anyone who's ever associated with a cat knows exactly what's going on here, and it's equal parts hilarious, frustrating, and sweet as hell.

Reccer's Notes: This is really lovely, the story of a lone, lonely werewolf who finds a pack.

Reccer's Notes: I'm so fond of Sherlock and his habit of taking in strays, and this gives me all the ferrets and pigs and bad-idea hedgehogs I could want, with a lovely Joan & Sherlock friendship, and Marcus being perfect even while covered in spider. Contains: spider; off-screen animal harm.

Reccer's Notes: Seriously, why would an Australian vampire slayer NOT make use of the local cryptofauna? Meet Sarah Kelly and her drop bear army.

Reccer's Notes: Ansketil writes dark, well in character canon figures, placing them in perfectly delicious dilemmas as she gets inside their skin. With Palpatine's motives as clear as can be, Vader writhes in torment inside his black suit before achieving as much peace as his master will ever allow him. I especially enjoy the imagery here, the new queen's black feathered costume rivaling Padmé's white garb at the end of Phantom Menace in its profound message.

Reccer's Notes: Harsh lessons here, rather fitting considering they fought a war... The last lines of this in particular hit hard.

Reccer's Notes: Kirk and Spock are so in love, and Jim is so respectful of Spock's boundaries and so careful to make sure he's not doing anything Spock doesn't want. They're such sweethearts. Also there's cave handjobs. :D

Reccer's Notes: Starscream's loathing POV is as much a total delight as the hatesex in this fic. Trying to get Megatron to freeze to death obviously misfired, but the results are... interestings. :D

Reccer's Notes: Such a pretty, achingly romantic fic.

Reccer's Notes: I love the way this is written. The voice has a great rhythm to it and sounds exactly like a fairy tale by way of Rodney McKay. This may be my favorite part: It didn't help that he wasn't (and let me throw a parenthetical clause in here to draw this into sharp relief) a very nice person.

Reccer's Notes: A beautiful, vivid and very Harlan take on classic myth.

Reccer's Notes: This is one of my favorite stories in the "Bucky is more traumatized by HYDRA than in canon" trope. I love it for the way both the story and the characters in it treat Bucky with such kindness, and the way it recognizes that there is no quick fix or magic undo button that will restore Bucky to fully functional human being, and that that is okay. The prose is very spare but evocative.

Reccer's Notes: A really creepy (and yet, true to the original view of fairies and fairy tales) look at the whole story of Sleeping Beauty

Reccer's Notes: Really intriguing look at what might happen after the ballad ends, and what the fairy world was like and what the real world is like, and why people cling to good memories of abusive things/people, and I really like the way Gehayi has captured all the characters.

Reccer's Notes: This is a really interesting fusion that makes the details of the story of Esther and the story of the Little Mermaid resonate with each other in very interesting ways. (Oh, Vashti!)

Reccer's Notes: The story of Helen of Troy with some elements from Sleeping Beauty. A very different take on Helen with a haunting, tragic feel.

Reccer's Notes: Really lovely exploration of Odysseus and Penelope's relationship.

Reccer's Notes: This is a story about the uses of folklore, the functions stories have in society. The most interesting types of minor characters stories in T:tSCC fandom focus on what happens to them on Judgment Day. This particular story follows Martin Bedell, who was a student at a military academy when we saw him on the show. (A military prep school for teens, not one of the service academies.) Skynet sent a Terminator after him, as he was destined to become one of John Connor's right hand men in the Resistance. So, Connor and Derek Reese infiltrated the school to protect Bedell. In the process, Bedell learned about Skynet, and that (no matter what he might want to do with his life) he had to join the military so that he would have the training and expertise necessary when Judgment Day comes. This is his story, preparing for Judgment Day and the Resistance. And this is the story of the stories he tells.

Reccer's Notes: In the 80s and 90s, there was a string of REALLY GREAT Star Trek: The Original Series novels published. Because Star Trek was by that time such a cultural juggernaut, there were a LOT of really talented writers just itching for the chance to write Star Trek novels. And a surprising amount of what was in those books later became canon (including Sulu and Uhura's first names). (If you're interested, I can give you a list of all the awesome ones you should totally read.)

One such awesome work was Uhura's Song, in which information provided by Uhura sends the Enterprise out on an adventure, which happens to involve a prolonged first contact involving lots of talk about folklore, and specifically trickster-figures, and Spock notes that the trickster figure on Vulcan is called T'Kay. ljc took that and wrote a really interesting ficlet, both exploring what T'Kay folklore might be like, and also what non-Vulcan academics might make of it. You don't have to know anything about the novel to enjoy this fic.

Reccer's Notes: This story is hauntingly perfect. It's lyrical, it's gothic, it leaves more to the imagination than it suggests. It stays with you long after you've read it. It's got one of the most nuanced representations of Lydia I've ever read, it's powerful, it's sensual, it's a little bit disturbing. This is probably one of my favourite pieces of fanfic ever. What AvaRosier does in 4000 words is just beautiful.

This pairing can easily be really unethical, but it's handled with a deft hand here and Lydia is time-period appropriate adult (its set in a historical fantasy setting).

Reccer's Notes: This is a cunning little delight, written in 2007 for the Make The Yuletide Gay exchange. So many sly, clever references to fairy tales and the world of whimsy, and the guys other then Joey and Chris are fun to spot. it quite simply makes me smile.

Reccer's Notes: This is exactly the weird, weird Stalk/Will porn I have been pining for since that very first trade volume, chock-full of details about just how a human dude and a spider lady would have sex. Very satisfying.

Reccer's Notes: This is a story about what happens after the close encounter with unfriendly xenobiology, on both a psychological and social level. It's also a great OC trying to figure out how to do research given such small sample sizes and widely varying contexts. I love the worldbuilding and the exploration of a corner of the SG universe the show never gave us.

Reccer's Notes: This is adorable. That's all I can say. (Also: that poor nurse.)

Reccer's Notes: I walked out of the movie wanting weird cannibalistic stuffing porn, and this one is delicious from beginning to end.

Reccer's Notes: This is the weirdest and most creative oviposition fic I have ever read. Leans hard into the shame/comfort aspect, which I always enjoy.

Reccer's Notes: A lovely story in which Venom still have a few things to learn about humans. A light and fun story, I really enjoyed Venon's point of view.

Reccer's Notes:
Best summed up by the prompt that spawned this glorious xeno gem: SEX POLLEN DEMON CAR.

Laylah took this opportunity to really explore the simultaneous hotness/creepiness of a sex-pollened POV - constantly returning to the verge of realizing something's terribly wrong, only to be subsumed by the drugging influence before they can wake up. What makes this one tip over from creepiness to hotness for me is that Oboroguruma torments Raidou with overwhelming, all-consuming pleasure, rather than pain.

That being said, it's marked Rape/Non-con because that's what it still is. Heed the warnings.

Reccer's Notes:
Pining, fey forests, vaguely ominous (but hot as hell) vine-tentacle porn, dubcon tailored specifically to inflame the characters' pining, desperately noble self-sacrifice, a faerie-gifted happy ending; what's not to like? (This on top of the already-existing canonical tension between their backgrounds as a British ex-prince/ex-slave and his Roman ex-master; altogether too delicious a fanfic stew.)

Reccer's Notes: I was stumped by this theme until I remembered "Oil." This fic is disturbing and strange and original. The link is to Ratales (Alex Krycek fanfic archive) but the story is also archived at Gossamer.