Fandom: The Heroes of Olympus -
Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Pairing: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Categories: Romance, Fluffy, First Time
Length: Medium [2649 words]
Warnings: No warning apply. Please check the rating at the title.
Author Website: Moons and Glassware(on AO3)
Summary: While Nico spends his time in the infirmary as per doctor's orders, he discovers that there may be a little...something between him and said Doctor Solace. Or a coda fic that takes place right after the events of The Blood of Olympus. [original summary]
Review: I’m onto sweet things now, mixed with my enormous fics, so I decided to change up and review this little one. This fic takes place after Blood of Olympus, and it’s practically spoiler free - you only know what is happening if you read the book. Nico di Angelo, Will Solace and Lou Ellen are featured, which means triple attack of adorableness.
Nico is in the infirmary and Will is taking care of him; the lovely part is that we see Nico trying to figure Will out, while feeling rooted and warmed by Will’s attention. This is significant because Nico is always cold, always disappearing in the shadows, and Will presents, in the smallest gestures, the exact opposite.
Lou Ellen is marvelous in the cannon and this fic translates her well; love her darkish humor and how she is always there to sooth the boys at the same time she smacks their head and makes them see how much they like each other. Her habit of trying to kill people is always nice.
I love how much Nico wavers between his usual black humor and a teen in his first crush - all squeaky and adorable. Be aware this is a sweet and gen rated fic, so we only get a minimum of romance at the end, but it’s quite worth the sweetness of the fic and the overall shortness of it.
Baby Steps
Fandom: Supernatural
Pairing: Sam/Dean
Genres: AU, Drama, Smut, Prison
Length: Medium
Warnings: Dub-con, incest, voyeurism
Author on LJ:
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
Author Website: N/A
Author's Summary:
N/A
Review:
An AU of Folsom Prison Blues, in this fic Sam doesn't deal as well with being incarcerated as he did in canon. Singled out by the other inmates, he and Dean have to pretend to be together in an effort to protect him - and then surprise surprise, they have to actually get together. It's smutty and wrong and ultimately satisfying.
Some Kind of Temporary Sanity
Fandom: Glee
Pairing: Kurt Hummel/Elliott "Starchild" Gilbert
Categories: Romance, Fluffy
Length: Long [16978 words]
Warnings: No warning apply. Please check the rating at the title.
Author Website: fierybeams(on AO3)
Summary:
Kurt and Elliott's relationship as told through hair dye. Or: Five times Elliott changed his hair, and one time Kurt did. [original summary]
Review:
When it comes to Glee I usually read Kurt/Blaine, Kurt/Puck, Puck/Finn or Sebastian/Kurt, I do, sometimes mix those characters up, but I’m quite limited to Kurt, Finn, Blaine, Puck and Sebastian in various couples, triads or moresomes. Then I saw this fic and decided to try Kurt/Elliot, mostly because of the Donut!Verse - that I reviewed here - in which Kurt/Adam Lambert aka Elliot are a thing. Well, color me surprised, the fic is really good! And brings out a ton of what I picture Adam to be, while still making Elliot a believable and amazing character.
While it follows the 5+1 fanfic formula, all chapters are quite cohesive and the plot flows splendidly. We go over the many moments a new relationship has, including a break up. It’s fun, it’s hot and very well written. I specially like Kurt characterization, showing his virtues and hung ups: fandom tends to portray him as overly perfect or demonize his flaws.
The fic also doesn’t bash Blaine, which, thank god! And it’s marvelous that we see Kurt experimenting in college, not only with body modification - his brief canon tattoo/piercing, but also his hair - but with how differently a relationship can transform with another person. In that manner, Elliot is put together and guided by his cannon characterization, while playing with a whole great personality and shimmy the author gave him.
Fluffy, but mature, this fic wins points for the general happy feeling it gives, while still managing smut and great conversations. The dramatic points aren't boring or over the top and I'm just fascinated by all the hair talk - it gave me delirious dreams of painting my hair mermaid green again.
On a final note, before you read, because you should! I love the writing style, the author’s adjectives are to die for and Kurt’s though process is so fun, I wish the shows had subtitles made by her. This fic is truly a perfect marriage of form and content.
Lips in my Hair
Fandom: Supernatural
Pairing: Sam/Dean
Genres: AU, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Outsider POV
Length: Epic (61k words)
Warnings: Incest
Author on LJ:
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
Author Website: N/A
Author's Summary:
Five years after the apocalypse didn’t happen and Sam and Dean have settled down, or as much as the Winchesters can ever settle down. Sam is a college professor and Dean a well-respected small business owner and they’re learning how to balance work, hunting and dog-ownership while coping with the metaphorical and literal scars of war. Life’s not perfect, not for a (sort of) out and proud couple in small town USA with a lot to hide, but they’re dealing, that is, until Dean employs one sexually-confused teenager who develops an unhealthy obsession with both of them... Switching between five years earlier and now, we learn how the boys came together, how they made it through the big fight and whether they’ll ever manage to find that flighty temptress, happily ever after.
Review:
Full of tension, both dramatic and sexual, this fic really kept my attention. The relationship between Sam and Dean is at its incestuous best here - fucked up and weird and yet intense and compelling. The fact that for half of the fic we're viewing Sam and Dean's relationship through the eyes of a formerly-straight, hair-triggered teenager really adds to that intensity. His inner monologue and his huge crush on Dean are very well written, perfectly portraying the all-encompassing nature of teen infatuation and sucking the reader into his at times awkward and funny longing.
The fic switches between his and Sam's POV as it shows us what happened between Sam and Dean before their current domesticity. Their story is both an interesting character study and a scorching hot sexual journey, as we read about their relationship developing both sexually and romantically, and how it has changed them and those close to them.
This author has also written plenty of other long and well written Supernatural fics - I highly recommend checking them all out if you haven't already.
Crush
Fandom: One Direction [Bandom/RPF]
Pairing: Liam Payne/Niall Horan
Categories: Romance, AU
Length: Medium [7534 words]
Warnings: Public Sex
Author Website: fallingidols(on AO3)
Summary:
Niall and Liam play a little game: how much sexual tension can they handle before one of them cracks?
Hint: not very much.
A gym AU where Harry signs Niall up with a personal trainer for his knee, but somewhere along the way Niall ends up with Liam and a whole lot of sexual tension instead. [original summary]
Review: The is fic is short and sweet, and I choose it for this week because it’s rare to find good Niall/Liam fics. I really like the dynamics of the pairing, and the author, while in a short work, manages to fill in their personalities quite well.
Besides Liam and Niall, we have a very friendly butterfly Harry that is 100% adorable and trying to help Niall in everything and Zayn, that is quite written in the cranky spectrum instead of the usual mysterious one, which is always refreshing. Oh, there is also Josh, though he leaves the fic quickly, but we have some great comic moments because of him.
The fic shows a medium to fast work of Liam’s and Niall’s relationship, which leads to some great sex and cuteness, the pining happens in a good proportion, which gives interest but isn’t boring! This fic is light, sweet and spicy and just a lovely read.
Let's Get Physical
Fandom: The Losers
Pairing: Carlos “Cougar” Alvarez/Jake Jensen
Categories/Genres: Alternate Universe, Canon Divergence, Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Drama, Friendship, Fluff, Romance, Healing, Slow Burn
Length: Long (33841 words)
Warnings: Descriptions of assault and sexual assault
Author on LJ:
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
Author Website: LadyJanelly
Summary:
Jake Jensen left the Army before he ever had a chance to be a Loser. Cougar meets him anyway.
Sometimes what a man needs to have a chance at happiness is losing the battle he’s been fighting his whole life.
Review:
Note: This fic contains descriptions of homophobic violence of both sexual and non-sexual nature committed against a gay character. The violence occurs off screen, but is frankly discussed by the characters.
I'm not quite sure where to begin, when it comes to Walk a While With Me. It's an incredible work that strikes an impeccable balance between a slowly developing romance and the realism of Cougar and Jake's respective mindsets and traumas. Between Cougar's deeply internalized homophobia and Jake's previous sexual assault, it's not by any means what I would consider an easy read, but the friendship that forms between the two men and the quiet weeks they spend together working on Jake's fixer-upper houses cushions the sharp edges. The result is a poignant fic that digs deep into the reader's emotions, but never quite cuts. It's about hurt and pain, but more importantly it's about healing.
Need is a prominent theme in Walk a While With Me. What Cougar needs. What Jake needs. What they need from each other. What they needed from others that they did, or didn't get. LadyJanelly explores the evolution of Cougar's needs as he comes to terms with his homosexuality and how they are affected by his deepening relationship with Jake. It's a stark contrast, looking at Cougar as he is introduced in the fic and then at his decisions at the end of the fic, but LadyJanelly writes his journey with such deftness that the change is fluid and inevitable.
The supporting characters range from the Losers to several original characters. Each is excellently written, particularly the OCs, who are quirky and interesting and stand out without removing the focus from Cougar's narration. They provide texture and richness to the story, interacting with and affecting Cougar and Jake's relationship even in absentia and helping the story move forward in a very organic way.
Walk a While With Me
Fandom: Sherlock BBC
Pairing: Sherlock/John, John/Sarah
Categories/Genres: Bachelor!AU
Length: 143,500
Author/Artist Website: Fanfiction
Summary: For those of you who aren't up-to-date on their Reality TV schedules, Monday night is The Bachelor night. This season, John Watson is the bachelor. Tonight, our journey comes to a close.
Review:
This is definitely a strange twist to the Bachelor AU. John is the contestant on a version of the Bachelor. Among many many women, Sherlock is the only male there to win his heart. Sherlock knows he's only on the show because his brother is evil and the show wanted to drum up some interest by doing a scandal. He hardly expects to last more than one night. Yet rose ceremony after ceremony he receives a rose from John much to his surprise and John's.
John Watson, Bachelor
Fandom: Teen Wolf
Pairing: Scott McCall/Stiles Stilinski
Categories: AU, First-Time, Friendship, Romance
Length: Long (20k)
Warnings: dub-con
Author on LJ:
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
Website: Ao3Tumblr
Summary: Scott isn't quite sure he's ready to move on after his relationship with Allison implodes, but he attends La Lune Joindre – a two-week retreat for single werewolves – anyway. As much as Stiles loves his dad (and alpha), he hopes by going to La Lune he'll find a mate from a faraway pack. Sitting next to each other on the bus to the retreat starts a fast friendship, and maybe more. When everyone at the retreat is pushing them apart, will Scott and Stiles be able to reconcile what they’re feeling in their hearts?
Review: This is a sweet and fast moving, first meeting fic for Stiles and Scott. I particularly liked the interplay between different packs, and the different ways they were run.
Stiles and Scott are both kept very in character despite a completely different world. And Jackson actually is a good listener in this one. Which makes a nice change from the usual one dimensional explanations for his bad behavior.
The Dub-con is due to them both being high on magic, and full moon. Both of them are interested, but not in the right frame of mind to consent. So if that is triggering, please considering skipping this fic.
La Lune Joindre
Fandom: Psych
Pairing: Carlton Lassiter/Shawn Spencer
Categories: podfic, romance, humour, slash, first time
Length: media: podfic, 1hr 30mins // fic: long, 15,418 words
Warnings: none particularly.
Reader Website: dark_dreymer on Dreamwidth
Author Website: Teragram on AO3
Summary: Lassiter is alarmed at finding himself attracted to Spencer following the Drimmer incident. He visits a friend in San Francisco, looking for advice, but Spencer has tailed him. Lust overtakes them in the gayest city in the world, but can their relationship survive returning to Santa Barbara?
Review: Another media rec, this time hailing from the recent Amplificathon podfic spree on Dreamwidth. But kind of a fic rec as well!
I didn't and still haven't had chance to listen to much from Amplificathon, which produced new podfic at a truly scary rate, but I was drawn to this podfic by the bright cover and the promise of a Paul Simon soundtrack, even though it isn't a ship I normally go for.
This is such an exuberant reading I couldn't stop listening, and it absolutely brings the story to life. The recording quality is about as polished as I've heard podfic, and I love the usage of Paul Simon's Flowers Never Bend With The Rainfall for the soundtrack, and the echo to distinguish thoughts is nicely done, making it easy to follow in an audio format. The whole production seems to bounce along with the lighthearted spirit of the show and the ever-present slight inanity of the two main characters.
Lassiter Learns How to Bend - podfic
Lassiter Learns How to Bend as text on AO3
Fandom: Merlin
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur
Genres: Romance, Humour, Crack
Length: Medium
Warnings: None
Author on LJ: N/A
Author Website: N/A
Author's Summary:
N/A
Review:
A hilarious and heartwarming prompt fill from
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
Courtship
Fandom: One Direction [Bandom/RPF]
Pairing: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Categories: PWP, Romance
Length: Epic [60732 words]
Warnings: Daddy Kink, Object Insertion, D/S Elements & Play, Humiliation, Exhibitionism, Feminization, Bareback Sex, Fisting, Impact Play, Pain Play, Sensory Deprivation, Kink Exploration, Safe Words & Trigger Discussions and Use, Figging, Bondage, Total Power Exchange, Pet Play and Collaring.
Author Website: crybaby (toplinson) (on AO3)
Summary:
‘Twenty one things to try before 21,’ he reads aloud, voice lilting with amusement. [original summary]
Review:
I’m on a smut-fluffy phase, probably because it’s May - and I’m always lively around my birthday. This story kind of announced a great B-Day week! It’s a plot what plot fic, where Harry and Louis explore several kinks Harry always wanted to try before turning 21.
She is so joyful to read, full of kink exploration, but beware! Louis and Harry navigate several kinks, but they don’t discuss all of them thoroughly, while Harry gives a blanket statement and they have safe words in place, a few people might consider the story slightly unconcerned with the kink negotiation.
Highlights of the fic concern favorite kinks of mine like Exhibitionism and Sensory Deprivation, as well as a Zayn, Harry and Louis threesome and a gangband with all the boys. The fic is an AU, and a bit unrealistic in the amount of sex a couple can have, and how willing people are in joining the experimentation, but it flows easily enough not to bother you while reading - of course, you must be prepared, this is a pwp fic, the plot is completely secondary, but I feel it delivers well it’s purpose.
This fic gains bonus points for the length and how diverse the sex scenes are without making it everything boring and “this” inserts “there”, the only thing I didn’t like was a bit of the pet names, but that mainly a personal preference thing - it doesn’t effect at all the reading.
hand over
Fandom: The Losers
Pairing: Carlos “Cougar” Alvarez/Jake Jensen
Categories/Genres: Post-Canon, Angst, Romance, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Friendship, Domestic, Cooking, Misunderstanding
Length: Long (19304 words)
Warnings: Original character death, mercy killing
Author on LJ: coinin
Author Website: coinin
Summary:
In which Cougar goes home, goes on a road trip, and learns to cook.
Review:
Fair warning, the first chapter of this fic follows the declining health and eventual passing of an original character, Cougar's grandmother. It's not an easy thing to read, but the obvious love between Cougar and his grandmother, the easy, familiar relationship between them, and Cougar's devoted care during his grandmother's final few weeks makes it worth the pain of her passing.
The Losers holds tightly to the theme of families, both found and of blood. In All the Tongues of Men and Angels explores the latter when Cougar takes his slowly dying grandmother back to her father's home in Mexico to live the rest of her days in peace. Well, relative peace, considering that she insists that Cougar learn to cook, starting from the very basics of chopping vegetables and moving up through tortillas made from scratch, until he is cooking of his own volition, emotionally conning his ailing grandmother into eating just a little bit more in spite of her flagging appetite.
When Cougar makes his way back to Jensen, cooking becomes an act of expressing himself in lieu of words. What started out as obeisance to his grandmother becomes a labor of love that Jensen is largely bewildered by, never quite understanding what Cougar is saying without actually saying until Cougar's grief for his grandmother finally cracks him open enough for the words to spill out and for Jensen to finally understand.
Two short and delightfully fluffy epilogues, Unexpected Sweetness and No Home Complete Without a Cat round out the series, and are not to be missed.
In All the Tongues of Men and Angels
Fandom: Sherlock(BBC)
Pairing: Gen
Categories/Genres: De-aged, Time Travel, Homeless
Length: 229,000
Warnings: Major Character Death, Graphic Depictions of Violence
Author/Artist on LJ:

Summary: Dr. John Watson is turned into an eight year old child, dealing with Sherlock who doesn't know him in a world where he was never born. He's a little stressed out, but he's got his priorities straight.
Review:
This story will forever stick in my heart as my favourite Sherlock fanfic. I rarely read gen but the emotion in this story makes me wish that there was a completely separate label for fics that have the best kinds of family love even when there is no romance.
And John is so uniquely lovable you can't even blame Sherlock for loving the grumpy eight year old wrapped in a woolly jumpers.
I've read a lot of fics where John gets to go back in time and redo all the cases and impress Sherlock with his foresight. But this fic tops them all by making you forget it's copying the episodes.
It is it's own true story with original characters that will become special to you and a storyline that makes you fall for John and Sherlock like you never even knew them. You ache for Sherlock who is presented with a tantalising puzzle in the young John that can never be solved. And John, who keeps major pieces of the puzzle to himself so that he can keep Sherlock as his and keep him safe at the same time.
I thought as I was reading this that it would be one of those fics that would go on forever until the writer lost their way. I thought there could never be an ending that would satisfy the height on which it had been brought to. I was wrong on all accounts. The ending made so much sense and I would never have thought of it in a million years. While with a fic this good I would have wanted it to last forever, no one can deny it made sense to end it where it was.
Wee Doctor
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Percy Weasley/Oliver Wood
Categories: AU/canon divergence, war, slash
Length: long, 23,524 words
Warnings: references to injury, torture, wartime setting, minor character death
Author on LJ: perpetual_motion on dreamwidth
Author Website: Perpetual Motion (perpetfic) on AO3
Summary: Wherein book 7 is completely ignored because wars don't tend to happen so quickly; Percy Weasley runs a safehouse [because that's as close to administrative work as you can get in a war], and everyone gets a chance to play minor character bingo. Get your cards and markers ready!
Review: So there has been a reasonable amount of HP on here lately and I would rather post variety, but I read this for the first time only yesterday and I Must Rec, because I was blown away by how fantastic this is.
This is Percy Weasley's war, as he runs his safehouse with a removed precision and attention to detail -- living with the information silences and asking only what's necessary to perform his assigned role in precaution against capture. Character cameos pop in and out, delivering fragments of other peoples' stories throughout, and the Golden Trio are entirely absent from proceedings as we get to see the struggles of other characters fighting in their different fashions, in the longer slog, out of the spotlight.
The sparse style really fits Percy's perspective and state of mind, pulled in so tight to do the job and allowing himself so little, and the way he organises his world, to best offer the people he's taking care of what they need. It's lovely to see this character in an essentially caregiving role, too, a contrast to the administrivia and rule-obsessed focus he so often has (and in this fic he definitely still also has), and recall that he looked after the twins while they were growing up. The characterisation is subtle and glorious, making the moments where characters with an outside perspective on Percy's closed world make observations that pull all the hints together so very earned.
Of course, one of the agents flitting in and out of Percy's safehouse is Oliver, but the romance, while definitely engaging, to the degree that I'm now seeking out more of this pairing to read, feels more like a bonus on top of a very different kind of story.
There are sequels that expand events after the war a little, and I love that there are sequels and you should read those, too, but this fic is where my rec is at.
In Between Days
Alternate link to In Between Days on Dreamwidth
Title: If you've a ready mind
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Categories/Genres: Hogwarts AU, Alternative timeline, Ravenclaw!Draco
Length: 89144
Warnings: Canon Deaths
Author/Artist on LJ:
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
Author/Artist Website: Sarah Rees Brennan
Summary:
Draco is sorted into Ravenclaw. A lot stays the same but somehow this little thing makes a world of difference.
Review:
I love how over dramatic Draco is in this fic. You get the feeling he always was but he never stood out because so were all the slytherins. In Ravenclaw he really stands out. He throws a tantrum and the ravenclaws find it cute and calmly leave him to it. I love how the rivalry is different between Draco and Harry because no one believes Harry that Draco is a bad person, even when Draco easily admits to only using everyone for his own gain. It makes Harry question his black and white reality.
Not to mention it feels really in character that Draco becomes smart only to try and make his father proud of him. Knowledge is power is how he justifies not being in slytherin to his cold hearted father.
Favourite moment - While Draco gets smarter every year, he still maintains the belief that his muggleborn friends' inhaler is in fact a demon amulet.
Hermione, false friend that she was, abandoned Draco and left him lumbered with Potter,
who was looking around with an air of vague alarm, as if he totally failed to recognise the
people he'd been going to class with for four years. He was also giving Draco strange
sidelong glances.
"You're asthmatic?" he said after a moment, gesturing to the amulet.
"Don't call me names when you're in my common room, Potter."
No Link for this fic.
Title: Chaos Theory
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Categories/Genres: Hogwarts AU, Alternative timeline, Ravenclaw!Draco
Length: 102711
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Kidnapping, Torture, Psychological Torture, Mind Control
Author/Artist on A03: Tessa Crowley
Summary:
Chaos: when the present determines the future, but the approximate present does not approximately determine the future. One gene varies, one neuron fires, one butterfly flaps its wings, and Draco Malfoy's life is completely different. Draco has always found a certain comfort in chaos. Perhaps he shouldn't.
Review:
Draco is a little out of character in this fic. Still over dramatic and terrified of everything but possessing the brain of Sherlock Holmes and the empathy of John Watson. Anyone can see from the quotes in this fic that the writer is a Sherlock fan. It gets very dark after Book 4, darker in some ways than the actual series. You can read up to then and be satisfied with the point in the story that you decide to leave it.
I love the fact the story feels like a childhood frienship slipping into romance in an entirely unforced way. Harry and his butterflies really take the cake.
“I know it might be a bit…” Harry’s mouth twists. “But I was thinking of your thing about chaos.”
“The butterfly effect,” Draco supplies.
“Yeah. I thought it might be a nice symbol.”
Draco laughs, though it’s quite breathy. “The butterfly isn’t a symbol of chaos,” he says.
“No?”
“No, Harry, it’s a symbol of—”
Draco looks up at him, and he has to physically bite his tongue to keep himself from finishing the sentence.
You, Draco wants to say but doesn’t. It’s a symbol of you, of the way you feel about me, of the way I feel about you.
Chaos Theory
Fandom: Fast & Furious
Pairing: Brian O'Conner/Dominic TorettoBrian O'Conner/Mia Toretto
Categories: Domestic, Family,
Length: Short (7k)
Warnings: Partner infidelity, Panic Attacks
Author on LJ: Anonymous
Website: Anonymous
Summary: Soulmarks never lie. But people do.
Review: While short this fic packs a nice punch. It is a soulmate AU, that takes soulmates in a different direction.
What if soulmates weren't necessarily people, but could be places to? How would that affect how you related to the world around you? How would you know who you were supposed to be with if more than one person made up the place your soul called home?
This is based off the first movie, so Brian is undercover for most of the fic, and there is some infidelity so if that squicks you, please don't read.
An Ever-Fixed Mark
Fandom: Merlin
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin
Genres: AU, Fuck or die, Romance, Drama, Slavery
Length: Long (15,793 words)
Warnings: Dub-con (fuck or die), period accurate homophobia
Author on LJ:
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
Author Website: halfhardtorock @ AO3
Author's Summary:
From the Kinkmeme prompt:
Merlin is given to Arthur as a pleasure slave (or somehow makes his way unwillingly? into Arthur's possession). He has been enchanted (cursed?) so that he must have Arthur's (or whoever owns him) seed within him at a regular basis or he will start to get sick and eventually die.
They start off disliking each other, and with Merlin resenting and fighting the situation, but somehow they end up falling in love with each other (and eventually breaking the spell?).
A d/s relationship would be preferred and bonus bonus points for collared merlin! I definitely would prefer, despite the situation strong Merlin though and hope for (eventual) BAMF Merlin.
Review:
Merlin, living under the rule of a foreign prince, is given to Arthur as a prize after a victory. Being stuck with a servant he didn't want is bad enough, and then he finds out that Merlin is bespelled. It's a fuck or die situation, where Arthur must have sex with Merlin despite his conflicted feelings about his sexuality and his moral outrage. This could easily have turned into an extremely dark and angsty fic, but Merlin and Arthur's growing regard for each other and Arthur's efforts to be as kind as possible during the situation keep it from going down that road. It's a scorching hot slow burn, with well-written sex scenes that are some of the most sensual I've ever read.
Bend All Your Notes for Me
Fandom: Marvel
Pairing: Bruce Banner/Tony Stark
Categories/Genres: 5+1, Alternate Universe, Pre-canon, Angst, First Time, Virgin, Fluff, Established Relationship
Length: Medium (7009 words)
Warnings: Overt and internalized ableism
Author on LJ:
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
Author Website: Sonora
Summary:
Tony struggles to deal with his synaesthesia most of his adult life. Can he ever find somebody who understands what he’s dealing with? Written for this prompt on avengerkink.
Review:
I've always been fascinated by the brain. It's something we take for granted, calling it a 'noggin' and 'grey matter' like it's little more than a chunk of tissue as opposed to a highly refined structure made of a fragile web of connections that make the finest of lace look thick and unwieldy in comparison. Its complexity laughs in the face of our attempts to understand it, and its adaptability and flexibility mock our attempts to imitate it.
By some quirk of genetics or prenatal brain development, Tony is born with synesthesia, a neurological phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. Howard, in his bid for the Shittiest Parent Ever Award, is utterly unsympathetic and makes no effort at all to understand Tony's experience, a mentality that Tony internalizes and carries with him for decades.
Sonora, who has synesthesia, takes very deliberate care in her descriptions of Tony's various experiences of various stimuli, from pain and pleasure to music and emotion. There are also graphic descriptions of how alcohol and cocaine affect his synesthesia. Even if you don't ship Bruce/Tony, it's a stunningly good read for how well Sonora recreates the range of sensory impressions, however exaggerated they may or may not be. If you know anyone with synesthesia, or suspect that you may have it, then this is a definite must-read simply to understand what it is that this small minority of people go through, trying to reconcile their understanding of the world with how they learn they are supposed to percieve it.
Five Times Synaesthesia Was a Problem For Tony Stark...
Fandom: Shameless (US)
Pairing: Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich
Categories/Genres: Band!AU, Fake relationship
Length: 29096
Warnings:
Author/Artist on AO3: Knittersrevolt
Summary:
Mickey knew it was a bad idea to start messing around with a boybander, but he was just so pretty. Getting caught meant pretending to date his f*ck buddy. Apparently management thought it was better to be in a gay relationship than to be a gay slut. Now if they can both just get out of this with their hearts still intact.
Or...
That Band AU no one asked for where everyone knows that Ian and Mickey are dating, except for Ian and Mickey.
Review:
The thing about Mickey and Ian is that they are a mills and boon romance about the most unlikeliest characters you will ever see. They love each other but in such vastly different ways its hard to think that how they feel about each other is the same emotion. With Mickey it always feels like Ian stole his prickly shell the day they met and now his greatest defence is useless against the red head. With Ian, a sort of I can't believe I have you possesiveness which strangely always reminds me of strawberry jam.
This fic writes their relationship so that it feels just like the show. It's nice to believe Mickey can have a happy ending, sometimes.
Stealing Songs
Fandom: Marvel MCU
Pairing: Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers
Categories: AU, Body Swap, Dark, Established Relationship, Romance
Length: Long (23k)
Warnings: Lots of death - Some Gore
Author on LJ:
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
Website: R_Gunns
Summary: They don't have control, aren't Gods or spirits or beings with any power. But they are something.
(A reincarnation AU that follows a dozen lives amongst thousands.)
Review: A series of loosely connected stories that follow various lives of Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes as they reincarnate, die, and repeat the cycle.
Some are dark, some are strange, and some are surprisingly sweet. Each one shows a different facet of both the characters and their relationship. All held together with a single story line rushing towards its end.
Even if you aren't super familiar with the fandom, you should be comfortable reading this fic, since each of the different worlds, and character experiences is included in the various parts of the story.
You Have Infinite Choice