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.
Tags:

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
Medium: 2,000-15,000 words
Long: 15,000-40,000 words
Epic: 40,000-100,000 words
Super Epic: 100,000+ words
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- fandom: addams family
- fandom: agent carter
- fandom: aladdin
- fandom: alias
- fandom: alice (2009)
- fandom: american idol
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- fandom: hawaii 5-0 (2010)
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- fandom: naruto
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- fandom: numb3rs
- fandom: oc
- fandom: ocean's 11
- fandom: once a thief
- fandom: one piece
- fandom: original fiction
- fandom: ouran high school host club
- fandom: oz
- fandom: pacific rim
- fandom: person of interest
- fandom: persuaders
- fandom: pirates of the caribbean
- fandom: podfic
- fandom: psych
- fandom: quantum leap
- fandom: ranma1/2
- fandom: real ghostbusters
- fandom: red dwarf
- fandom: roswell
- fandom: rurouni kenshin
- fandom: saiyuki
- fandom: samurai champloo
- fandom: sentinel
- fandom: shakespeare
- fandom: sherlock bbc
- fandom: sherlock holmes
- fandom: small fandom
- fandom: small fandoms
- fandom: smallville
- fandom: social network
- fandom: spiderman
- fandom: sports night
- fandom: star trek deep space nine
- fandom: star trek enterprise
- fandom: star trek reboot
- fandom: star trek tng
- fandom: star trek tos
- fandom: star trek voyager
- fandom: star trek xi
- fandom: star wars
- fandom: stargate atlantis
- fandom: stargate sg-1
- fandom: starsky and hutch
- fandom: suits
- fandom: supernatural
- fandom: supernatural rps
- fandom: teen wolf
- fandom: terminator universe
- fandom: the eagle
- fandom: the losers
- fandom: torchwood
- fandom: twilight
- fandom: ugly betty
- fandom: vids
- fandom: watchmen
- fandom: weiss kreuz
- fandom: welcome to night vale
- fandom: west wing
- fandom: white collar
- fandom: without a trace
- fandom: x-files
- fandom: x-men
- fandom: x-men first class
- fandom: xena
- fandom: yami no matsuei
- fandom: yu-gi-oh
- fandom: zorro
- genre: actioin/adventure
- genre: action/adventure
- genre: amnesia
- genre: angst
- genre: apocalypse
- genre: asexual
- genre: attempted suicide
- genre: au
- genre: bdsm
- genre: body swap
- genre: bonding
- genre: case file
- genre: crack
- genre: creature/wing
- genre: cross-dressing
- genre: crossover
- genre: dark
- genre: de-aged
- genre: domestic
- genre: drama
- genre: epistolary
- genre: established relationship
- genre: family
- genre: first-time
- genre: fluff
- genre: friendship
- genre: fusion
- genre: future
- genre: genderswitch
- genre: harlequin
- genre: historical
- genre: holiday
- genre: homeless
- genre: horror
- genre: humor
- genre: hurt/comfort
- genre: kids
- genre: marriage of convenience
- genre: mpreg
- genre: mystery
- genre: parody
- genre: post-canon
- genre: pre-canon
- genre: pre-slash
- genre: pregnancy
- genre: prostitute
- genre: pwp
- genre: repeating time
- genre: romance
- genre: sad_stories
- genre: science fiction
- genre: slash
- genre: slave
- genre: supernatural
- genre: time-travel
- genre: vampire
- genre: virgin
- genre; first time
- lenght: long
- length: epic
- length: long
- length: medium
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- length: super!epic
- medium: art
- medium: comic
- medium: fanmix
- medium: podfic
- medium: vid
- pairing: akira/hikaru
- pairing: alan_grant/billy_brennan
- pairing: alice/hatter
- pairing: arthur/eames
- pairing: arthur/merlin
- pairing: audrey/duke/nathan (haven)
- pairing: beecher/keller
- pairing: bertie/jeeves
- pairing: bilbo/thorin
- pairing: blaine/kurt
- pairing: blair/jim
- pairing: bond/q
- pairing: brad/nate
- pairing: brian/dom
- pairing: bruce wayne/jim gordon
- pairing: bucky barnes/steve rogers
- pairing: buffy/giles
- pairing: carlos/cecil
- pairing: casey/dan
- pairing: castiel/dean
- pairing: chad danforth/ryan evans
- pairing: chakotay/tom paris
- pairing: chekov/sulu
- pairing: chris/vin
- pairing: clark/lex
- pairing: clint/coulson
- pairing: cook/archuleta
- pairing: daniel/jack
- pairing: danny/nicholas
- pairing: dean/sam
- pairing: derek hales/stile stilinski
- pairing: derek hales/stiles stilinski
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- pairing: duo/heero
- pairing: elizabeth/darcy
- pairing: elizabeth/neal/peter
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- pairing: femslash
- pairing: frank iero/gerard way
- pairing: frank/gerard
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- pairing: fraser/vecchio
- pairing: garak/julian bashir
- pairing: gen
- pairing: gibbs/tony
- pairing: greg/nick
- pairing: harold finch/john reese
- pairing: harry/severus
- pairing: harvey/mike
- pairing: hermione/snape
- pairing: het
- pairing: holmes/watson
- pairing: hotch/reid
- pairing: house/wilson
- pairing: hutch/starsky
- pairing: ianto/jack
- pairing: ichigo/rukia
- pairing: illya/napoleon
- pairing: jared/jensen
- pairing: jin/mugen
- pairing: john mcclane/matt farrell
- pairing: josh/sam
- pairing: kakashi/iruka
- pairing: kirk/spock
- pairing: kon-el/tim drake
- pairing: kris/adam
- pairing: lassiter/shawn
- pairing: mac/vic
- pairing: mark/eduardo
- pairing: mckay/sheppard
- pairing: mohinder/sylar
- pairing: obi-wan/qui-gon
- pairing: pepper/tony
- pairing: slash
- pairing: spike/xander
- pairing: steve rogers/tony stark
- pairing: steve/danny
- pairing: t'pol/tucker
- pairing: threesome
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Comments
Fandom: Stargate: Atlantis
Pairing: McKay/Sheppard
Categories: AU, First Time
Length: 25,305
Warnings: None
Author on LJ:
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
Fandom: Ironman
Pairing: Tony Stark/Male Pepper Potts
Categories: AU, Angst
Length: ~27,000 (including sequel)
Warnings: None
Author on LJ:
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)
(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)
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:
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
(Love me some <lj user="crack_van")
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)
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
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