Previous Entry | Next Entry

Readers' Recs - Alternate Universe

  • Nov. 25th, 2013 at 7:24 AM
We've come to the end of AU theme week and would love to hear from you. Rec a fic in which some particular element or moment has been changed from canon, or in which your favorite characters have been transplanted to a coffee shop, spaceship, or anywhere else.
  • Recced stories can be any fandom and any pairing (or no pairing) as long as they match the theme. Fan art, podfic, and fan vid recs are also welcome.
  • You don't need to write a review (unless you want to). All that you need to include are title, author, and link to the story.
  • Fic or media as a single file are preferred, if available.

  • If you'd like to use our reccing template, you can find it under the cut.


Previous Readers' Recs topics can be found here.



Comments

[identity profile] connorblond.livejournal.com wrote:
Nov. 24th, 2013 08:14 pm (UTC)
Question - can anyone rec a fic?
mothlights: (robots)
[personal profile] mothlights wrote:
Nov. 24th, 2013 08:26 pm (UTC)
Yes, absolutely! This is where our readers can rec anything AU. It doesn't matter whether it's been recced at the comm before or not. Rec away if you like. :D
[identity profile] connorblond.livejournal.com wrote:
Nov. 24th, 2013 08:27 pm (UTC)
Okay :)
mothlights: (monster_squee)
[personal profile] mothlights wrote:
Nov. 24th, 2013 08:34 pm (UTC)
(Btw, I assumed you were asking about commenting to this post, but if you mean a review posted by itself, ER has a team of reccers that are assigned a day of the week and post weekly, long term. We'll probably be looking for a new reccer to join the comm in our January 27 RR post. Anyone can add a review on January 27 to be considered for the open slot. More info about reccers in our profile.)
popkin16: (☂ a love like that)
[personal profile] popkin16 wrote:
Nov. 25th, 2013 12:51 am (UTC)
Title: Event Horizon Books
Fandom: Stargate: Atlantis
Pairing: McKay/Sheppard
Categories: AU, First Time
Length: 25,305
Warnings: None

Author on LJ: [livejournal.com profile] exampleusername
Author Website: Website name N/A

Summary: The unique thing about Event Horizon, and something Rodney was quite proud of, was that the store itself was a physical representation of the mind of its owner. The filing system that had so amused Sheppard served a greater purpose. The problem was that Rodney hadn't yet figured out just what that purpose was. He only knew that he liked things a certain way. If one took a moment to piece the filing system together, they would realize that it told the story of one man, perched behind his counter, trying to fend off the world.

Review:
A fun AU where John owns a surf shop and Rodney owns a bookstore. John refuses to be put off by grumpy Rodney and is determined they become friends. John drags along the 'hoodlums', as Rodney puts it, that hang around John's shop. It's a fun fic with minimal angst.

Event Horizon Books
mothlights: (monster_squee)
[personal profile] mothlights wrote:
Nov. 27th, 2013 03:22 am (UTC)
It's spring where I am, and surf shop!John sounds like just the think for a warm afternoon. :)
popkin16: (☂ a love like that)
[personal profile] popkin16 wrote:
Nov. 27th, 2013 04:26 am (UTC)
Oh man, spring where you are? You are SO LUCKY. I hope the fic really hits the spot for you ♥ It's one of my favorites~
[identity profile] delighter.livejournal.com wrote:
Nov. 25th, 2013 01:46 am (UTC)
Helpmate by Subterrain - Ironman AU
Title: Helpmate
Fandom: Ironman
Pairing: Tony Stark/Male Pepper Potts
Categories: AU, Angst
Length: ~27,000 (including sequel)
Warnings: None

Author on LJ: [livejournal.com profile] subterrain
Author Website: Fic Sticky (http://subterrain.livejournal.com/26879.html)

Summary: What if Pepper Potts was an ambitious young man? An interesting look at what might have been.

Review: This is one of my top five forever fics. It's beautifully written and wonderfully detailed and endlessly fascinating. No one wants to see strong female characters stripped of their agency, but give this study of what-would-change-if-Pepper was-a-dude a fair shake.

Helpmate (http://subterrain.livejournal.com/21980.html) and its sequel, Weathervane (http://subterrain.livejournal.com/25302.html)
mothlights: (robots)
[personal profile] mothlights wrote:
Nov. 27th, 2013 03:26 am (UTC)
Re: Helpmate by Subterrain - Ironman AU
I've never read a male!Pepper before, so I looked at the first few paragraphs, and it looks great. Thanks for the rec!

(ETA reading a few paragraphs more, and Tony sounds like a hell of a handful! I don't think I could work for him.)

Edited 2013-11-27 03:43 am (UTC)
[identity profile] delighter.livejournal.com wrote:
Nov. 27th, 2013 07:09 pm (UTC)
Re: Helpmate by Subterrain - Ironman AU
Yeah! People forget that he was a complete asshat pre-suit. Glad you're giving it a read!
[identity profile] streussal.livejournal.com wrote:
Nov. 25th, 2013 08:07 am (UTC)
Title: I've got a plan, I've got an atlas in my hands
Fandom: Hannibal (tv)
Pairing: Abigail-centric, sort of Abigail/Will
Categories: AU, fusion (with Hunger Games)
Length: ~5900 words
Warnings: character death, violence

Author on LJ: [livejournal.com profile] jeremy_finch
Author Website: on ffn.net (http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1238541/), on AO3 (http://archiveofourown.org/users/but_seriously/works), and their lj masterlist (http://jeremy-finch.livejournal.com/5960.html) (slightly out of date)

Author's Summary: "My name is Will Graham," she hears him say, to her or to himself, she can't even tell anymore. He sounds almost uncertain. "I am eighteen. I am from District 4. I'm a tribute in the 74th Annual Hunger Games. It is 8:47pm. I am still alive. I am not a killer." (Abigail-centric)

Review:
Hannibal characters in the Hunger Games universe! Abigail Hobbs, the girl who did what she had to survive, as a tribute! This fic was basically demanding to be written, and the author did it beautifully. (...full disclosure: I provided the prompt that later resulted in this fic. But I wouldn't rec anything I wasn't confident in, and I adore this.)

Abigail's characterization is fantastic, her drive to keep going really keeping the story engaging. I also love Hannibal as a former victor, Abigail's mentor (of course), with his attention to details in training. And Will Graham, opening the fic by rescuing an injured deer, when he should be focused on saving himself (of course). There are appearances and references to several other Hannibal characters; I especially love Freddie's brief appearance.

I've got a plan, I've got an atlas in my hands (http://jeremy-finch.livejournal.com/30712.html) (also on AO3 (http://archiveofourown.org/works/860952) and ffn.net (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9434955/1/I-ve-got-a-plan-I-ve-got-an-atlas-in-my-hands))

(I basically copy+pasted this from my [livejournal.com profile] crack_van review here (http://crack-van.livejournal.com/6156480.html"))
mothlights: (karkat_grey)
[personal profile] mothlights wrote:
Nov. 27th, 2013 03:31 am (UTC)
It's nice to get a rec for a fandom that none of our reccers have claimed at the moment. Hannibal's popular but not really represented here without recs like this.

(Love me some <lj user="crack_van")
[identity profile] yukisa.livejournal.com wrote:
Nov. 26th, 2013 06:47 pm (UTC)
Title: The Highest of Seas the Lowest of Men
Fandom: American Idol RPF
Pairing: Kris Allen/Adam Lambert, avid Archuleta/David Cook
Categories: Pirates!!
Length: Super-Epic: 101,053
Warnings:

Author : deannawol

Summary:
In all the seas in all the world, there exists no pirate more feared or hated than the Villainous Captain Lambert of The Madness. Tales of his cunning and the black magic that grants him his success are known across the world. Some say that he is devil-born, others that he was cursed as a boy to sail the seas in search of redemption but all agree that to cross paths with The Madness and her white-garbed captain is to know damnation, death and utter despair.

Lieutenant Kristopher Allen, of her Majesty's ship The Hawk, knows all the stories and was once counted amongst the rare few to survive his first encounter with the Villainous Captain. Many tides have passed since then and Kris is burdened with more worldly concerns. His childhood friend, now his fiancée, Katy needs his protection and Kris' duty calls him to sea and battle with the pirate menace in the waters around his Charles Towne home.

He has worries enough for any man but Kris' luck is running out. A wounded Hawk is easy prey and his home port may lie beyond his reach. Kris escaped the Villainous Captain once, but it is surely beyond the hope of any man to survive a second encounter?

Review:
You want an amazing read lasting you some evenings? Then come with me on board The Madness, meet the charasmatic Captain Adam Lambert and join in to the journey of a young navy-officer named Kris Allen, trying to do the right Thing in the Name of honour and love...

For me, this Story combines everything I love: An amazing plot, a epic length (this is only the first part, part two is about the same length) and a Storyline that makes you read until the middle of the night, never quite knowing where the waves will take you.

The other good Thing about this epic tale is, you can read it without knowing anything about the characters. I didn't knew them and still it truly amazing, just as an original read.

The Highest of Seas the Lowest of Men (http://archiveofourown.org/works/234408/chapters/358991)
mothlights: (comic_book_love)
[personal profile] mothlights wrote:
Nov. 27th, 2013 03:33 am (UTC)
I'm glad you said this can be read as original fic, because I don't really know the characters, but 'epic' and 'pirates' certainly sound good!
[identity profile] yukisa.livejournal.com wrote:
Nov. 30th, 2013 03:22 pm (UTC)
I also didn't know the characters, but it didn't changed how much I liked the story!
[identity profile] rabid-bookwyrm.livejournal.com wrote:
Nov. 27th, 2013 06:45 am (UTC)
In no particular order:

A Deeper Season (http://archiveofourown.org/series/1516), sahiya and lightgetsin. Vorkosigan series, goes AU from after Memory. Long, series, Miles/Gregor.

Take one Miles, a hapless cousin, Cetagandan social politics, a galactic conspiracy, a scientific discovery, a lot of firepower, and an unexpected declaration. Mix well and step back quickly.

Warn: Be careful of What Passing Bells - I always intend to read only part way, I always read the whole thing, and I always cry.



Always Starts the Same, with a Boy and a Girl (http://archiveofourown.org/works/124667), lightgetsin. White Collar, AU from before the series starts. Neil/El, Neil/El/Peter.

Summer, 1998. Neal Caffrey robs the gallery where Elizabeth O'Dell is working late, and comes away with a lot more than art. Agent Burke has no idea what's about to hit him.


Never Leave a Trace (http://sam-storyteller.dreamwidth.org/160759.html), Sam Storyteller. White Collar, AU magical realism universe. Neil/Peter/El

He'd once drawn a bird so real it flew off the page. He couldn't be tattooed; the ink ran right out of his skin while he slept. On the outside, he'd jumped off a ledge four floors above ground and walked away unhurt. He could walk through prison bars. He could tell your fortune in the color of your eyes. If you gave him a lit cigarette, he could hypnotize a man just by flicking it back and forth. He could steal your soul if you let him draw you, but he wouldn't (but he had once). His name wasn't even Neal Caffrey. They said there was a priest on the outside who owned his shadow. They said that he was a ghost who'd just disappeared one day straight out of his cell. They said he'd come back. Some people believed it; some didn't.

Warn: prison, creepy magic.


The World on His Wrist (http://bendingsignpost.livejournal.com/tag/fic:%20the%20world%20on%20his%20wrist), bendingsignpost. Sherlock (BBC), AU from before the beginning of the series. John is shot in Afghanistan. He wakes up, and wakes up, and wakes up, and wakes up again. Gen for the first story, John/Sherlock in sequels.

First, he is shot in Afghanistan. Second, he wakes to a phone call in Chelmsford, Essex. Third is pain, fourth is normalcy, fifth is agony and sixth is confusion. By the eighth, he's lost track.



Written by the Victors (http://trickster.org/speranza/cesper/Victors.html), Speranza. Stargate: Atlantis, AU from mid-show. A literature review of the Atlantean uprising.

In hindsight, the ideological break between Elizabeth Weir and John Sheppard seems almost predetermined. Weir's diplomatic successes were based on her ability to coax disagreeing parties to abide by a series of carefully negotiated rules. Sheppard, on the other hand, had a long history of disregarding orders and a tendency to think that rules didn't apply to him. Sheppard's sense of himself as somehow exceptional only deepened once he went to Atlantis, probably because it was more or less true.

—Mark Leredo, The Atlantis Uprising, p. 45
[identity profile] goodwin-panzer.livejournal.com wrote:
Nov. 28th, 2013 04:36 am (UTC)
Northwest Passage

BBC Sherlock

John/Sherlock

AU

95,000 words

Hurt/comfort, description of torture, explicit sex

Author: Kryptaria

http://kryptaria.tumblr.com/


Sherlock finds himself sent unexpectedly to the Canadian wilderness to winter with John, whom he has never met. Beautiful character analysis of John, as Sherlock figures out who John is and why Mycroft sent him there.

I held off on reading this for some time because I wasn't seeing John as Canadian. Once I started reading though, I was hooked. Something's not quite right with John, and Sherlock notices right away. Naturally, he can't resist a challenge. And living off the grid is indeed a challenge for Sherlock. The descriptions of the cabin and life in the wilderness are fascinating on their own, and the slowly developing relationship between the two men is believable and realistic. John maybe a bit broken, but he's still quite capable of handling himself and Sherlock as well.

More easily read on AO3 at http://archiveofourown.org/works/531662/chapters/943040
mothlights: (sherlock_walking)
[personal profile] mothlights wrote:
Nov. 29th, 2013 09:45 pm (UTC)
Thanks for the rec! (And sorry for the delay due to it being marked as suspicious. I have no idea why LJ does that.)

Profile

epic_recs: (Default)
[community profile] epic_recs
Epic Recs

Length Guidelines

Short: under 2,000 words
Medium: 2,000-15,000 words
Long: 15,000-40,000 words
Epic: 40,000-100,000 words
Super Epic: 100,000+ words

Tags

Powered by Dreamwidth Studios
Designed by [personal profile] chasethestars