#6 (Eeeeee! When was the last time I had The O.C. fic to rec?)

Title: The Chrismukkah Carol by kevo/beakanoma
Fandom: The OC
Pairing: Seth/Ryan
Categories: angst, holiday, future, established relationship (very much break-up/make-up)
Length: Long (~20,000 words)
Warnings: implied off-screen domestic violence; implicatons of potential child molestation

Author on LJ: beakanoma 
Website: n/a

Review:
An OC Christmas Chrismukkah Carol, with Ryan filling the Scrooge role.

I have to admit, the justification for Ryan's spiritual intervention is a bit flawed (it's hard to figure out how Ryan isolating himself will eventually lead to The End of The Cohen Family And Death Of All That OC Fans Hold Sacred) and there's some verb tense issues in the last part. Fortunately, the bulk of the story makes up for those two issues.

I'm a huge sucker for future!fic and Kevo does a fantastic job of writing a slightly depressing but tone perfect future for Ryan. The boy we knew and loved from the series is still in there, but he's been tempered and a little broken by adult life. Enter the ghost of Marissa (and I don't say this very often but Marissa might just be my favorite part of this fic) and the story takes a creepy but oddly sweet turn.

My favorite characters in this fic are the female ones -- Marissa, Summer, Kristen, and the first spirit (name withheld, since guessing who the spirits are going to be is one of the joys of this fic) are all flawlessly in character and are all utterly adorable. Ryan and Seth are not quite as perfect, but Kevo has a real gift for writing Seth Cohen dialogue.

In the end, this is a good choice for Christmas Carol fans, for fans of the women of The OC, or for OC fans who are eager to read longer stories than The OC fandom norm.

The Chrismukkah Carol