Title: Into the Rose Garden
Fandom: Labyrinth
Pairing: Sarah Williams/Jareth, Sarah Williams/Original Male Character
Categories/Genres: Post-Canon, Romance, Drama
Length: Super Epic (109232 words)
Warnings: N/A

Author on LJ: N/A
Author Website: Dryad13

Summary:

Sarah has good grades, a circle of friends, and a cute boyfriend. Life's great...right? So why does she have the strange feeling that something's missing? Fairy tales show that magic will make you or break you. Which category does she belong in?

Review:

Ah, Labyrinth, my faithful old friend, the fandom that has always been there for me with unexpected treats when I am laid low by a hiatus. *coldly eyes the Person of Interest season finale* Somehow, no matter how many times I dip into this fandom, I always discover something new and delightful to distract me from my woes. This time, it's Dryad13's Into the Rose Garden.

To be honest, I almost didn't choose this particular story to rec. I had another Labyrinth fic in mind, which in hindsight I recognize to be an equally well written but still somehow lacking choice. What really made up my mind was the Sarah's stellar characterization.

In Into the Rose Garden, Sarah begins in that odd, undefined place between the end of childhood and the beginning of adulthood. She is, in Brittney Spears' immortal words, “not a girl, not yet a woman.” There remain in her some lingering traces of girlhood, not yet shaken off after her initial encounter with the Labyrinth and the Goblin King, but through the story she slowly sheds those old habits and beliefs, growing into a far more adult type of maturity and self-possession. Rather than wasting words on pointless tantrums, she comes to wield them as weapons, ones she most often turns on Jareth, to varying effect. Yet at the same time, she learns to lay down those weapons and forgive where before she would blindly lay blame on whoever she felt deserved it.

By the end of the story, Sarah has grown to the point where she can rescue herself from situations not of her own making, is able to coax compromise from the Goblin King himself and gracefully accept his terms in turn. She can let her mother's abandonment go and even scolds her father and mother after a very public spat. Sarah begins Into the Rose Garden as a young woman, and by the end of her second trip to the Labyrinth, has begun to emerge into a more fully realized, adult version of herself.

Into the Rose Garden

Title : Boredom Untold
Fandom: Sherlock, Labyrinth
Pairing: gen
Categories: crack, crossover, humor, pre-canon
Length: Short (2000 words)
Warnings: N/A

Author on LJ: goldenusagi
Author Website: N/A

Summary:
Labyrinth crossover. Mycroft wishes nine-year-old Sherlock away to the goblins. This turns out to be a mistake for everyone involved. Jareth suffers the most.

Review:
I'm presenting a short fic today but it made me laugh a few days ago and I didn't want to miss reccing it.
I often enjoy well-plotted crossover. And this one, while completely crack-ish is very well-done. The author ties the plots of both fandoms with ease.
Goldenusagi created great dialogs. Both Sherlock and Mycroft are very much in characters. And the banter between all the characters is spot on.
If you want to have fun, just go. You won't regret it.

Boredom Untold

Title : Boredom Untold
Fandom: Sherlock, Labyrinth
Pairing: gen
Categories: crack, crossover, humor, pre-canon
Length: Short (2000 words)
Warnings: N/A

Author on LJ: goldenusagi
Author Website: N/A

Summary:
Labyrinth crossover. Mycroft wishes nine-year-old Sherlock away to the goblins. This turns out to be a mistake for everyone involved. Jareth suffers the most.

Review:
I'm presenting a short fic today but it made me laugh a few days ago and I didn't want to miss reccing it.
I often enjoy well-plotted crossover. And this one, while completely crack-ish is very well-done. The author ties the plots of both fandoms with ease.
Goldenusagi created great dialogs. Both Sherlock and Mycroft are very much in characters. And the banter between all the characters is spot on.
If you want to have fun, just go. You won't regret it.

Boredom Untold

Title: A Lost Child in a Forgotten Tale
Fandom: Pan's Labyrinth (El laberinto del fauno), Labyrinth
Pairing: gen
Categories: Crossover, Drama, Angst
Length: Medium (7,479 words)
Warnings: Canon Character Death

Author on LJ: amelia_petkova
Author Website: amelia_petkova

Summary:
Ofelia wishes her brother away but not for the reasons you might think.

Review:
This is a bittersweet story that meshes the two movies perfectly, and gives Ofelia a chance to save her baby brother. She has read about the Goblin King taking children wished away by relatives, and when she and the baby are left motherless with her sadistic step-father she turns to the only resource she has: a wish. Jareth still makes her traverse his labyrinth, but, in a twist from usual, her prize is for the baby to stay in the safety of the goblin realm.

Portions of this story made me tear up, such as Ofelia saying "I wished for you because I love him" or the parts that focus on her grief for her mother. *sobs in corner* It's not all sad, and it was fun to see Jareth from Ofelia's eyes. Also, I love the hints at Jareth's reaction to Ofelia--the only person to ever have love as the motivation to call on him--and the indication to the reader that he's cut Ofelia a break (one that she's oblivious to).

I love how perfectly the author dovetails the two verses together, with the fic taking place during mid-Pan's Labyrinth. That said, while she's put the baby in good(ish?) hands, and Ofelia must return to her own labyrinth after leaving the Goblin King's. In tone, the story is much closer to Pan's Labyrinth than Labyrinth, though lacking the overt violence, so it's a bit grim and sad with a little hope sprinkled in.

( Click here to read an excerpt. )

A Lost Child in a Forgotten Tale (AO3) (LJ)
or with bonus author commentary here

Title: A Lost Child in a Forgotten Tale
Fandom: Pan's Labyrinth (El laberinto del fauno), Labyrinth
Pairing: gen
Categories: Crossover, Drama, Angst
Length: Medium (7,479 words)
Warnings: Canon Character Death

Author on LJ: amelia_petkova
Author Website: amelia_petkova

Summary:
Ofelia wishes her brother away but not for the reasons you might think.

Review:
This is a bittersweet story that meshes the two movies perfectly, and gives Ofelia a chance to save her baby brother. She has read about the Goblin King taking children wished away by relatives, and when she and the baby are left motherless with her sadistic step-father she turns to the only resource she has: a wish. Jareth still makes her traverse his labyrinth, but, in a twist from usual, her prize is for the baby to stay in the safety of the goblin realm.

Portions of this story made me tear up, such as Ofelia saying "I wished for you because I love him" or the parts that focus on her grief for her mother. *sobs in corner* It's not all sad, and it was fun to see Jareth from Ofelia's eyes. Also, I love the hints at Jareth's reaction to Ofelia--the only person to ever have love as the motivation to call on him--and the indication to the reader that he's cut Ofelia a break (one that she's oblivious to).

I love how perfectly the author dovetails the two verses together, with the fic taking place during mid-Pan's Labyrinth. That said, while she's put the baby in good(ish?) hands, and Ofelia must return to her own labyrinth after leaving the Goblin King's. In tone, the story is much closer to Pan's Labyrinth than Labyrinth, though lacking the overt violence, so it's a bit grim and sad with a little hope sprinkled in.

( Click here to read an excerpt. )

A Lost Child in a Forgotten Tale (AO3) (LJ)
or with bonus author commentary here

Title: Forever, Not Long At All
Fandom: Labyrinth
Pairing: Jareth/Sarah
Categories: Drama
Length: Medium (4,339 words)
Warnings: magic-induced eating disorder

Author on LJ: akavertigo / the_kitchen_ink
Author Website: AkaVertigo / akaVertigo

Summary:
She'll muddle through recipes untold and burns unnumbered, fight her way out of every castle fantasy supper to guard what he's out to steal, for her will is stronger, strong as iron and oil, and her kingdom—her crucible, her hearth, her cauldron and laboratory—will be greater.

Review:
A peculiar take on Persephone; after leaving the Labyrinth, Sarah can't stomach food until she finally fights back with cooking for herself...but it turns out even more complicated than that. Told in an odd dream-like style, alternating between Sarah's learning to cook with dream feasts with Jareth where he tries to tempt her back.

The strength of this story is the lyrical prose, magical and lilting and twisty. Sarah is plucky and clever, and I really loved the resolution. The only problem is that this is practically food porn, and may induce some hunger.

Dare to Bake a Peach

Title: Forever, Not Long At All
Fandom: Labyrinth
Pairing: Jareth/Sarah
Categories: Drama, Romance, Kids, Post-Canon
Length: Medium (7,475 words)
Warnings: non-sexual romantic relationship with age differential (teenager/adult)

Author on LJ: unknown
Author Website: Mede

Summary:
Because she didn't wake up new the next morning and stop resenting her family and the world's unfairness, and she didn't just let it end after thirteen hours with the Labyrinth or its King―and they found that worked for them.

Review:
I love that this story deals with the aftermath of the movie in a unique way, with little snapshots of Sarah turning more and more to the Goblin King for assistance with her responsibilities. Sarah's frustration with having to deal with being a teenager and take care of her baby half-brother and dealing with absentee parents are still there, though she's matured through her experience in the Labyrinth, and continues to do so during the story. Jareth and Sarah's relationship develops into one of equals, with Sarah exploring the magic of the Underground, and they actually talk out some of their differences.

She glanced back to him, dryly, and Jareth realized she wasn't playing by hero and villain anymore―the baby, of all things, had changed her perception of him, even if the new role she was attempting to cast him in was Goblin King the babysitter.

Forever, Not Long At All

Recced by lolitakun 

Title: My Fine Feathered Friend
Fandom: Labyrinth
Pairing: Jareth/Sarah
Categories: Romance, Humor
Length: Epic (~85,000 words)
Warnings: n/a

Author on LJ: lixxle 
Website: Lixxle on FF.net

Summary: A tale about a gender-confused, fashion-conscious goblin, a chicken of destiny, and leather pants. Oh and a good dash of ol' fashioned romance and some adult-type touching thrown in for good measure.

Review:
Admittedly, in some places the writing is a little rough, but there is something incredibly charming about this fic that it compels me to forgive its faults. It's just one of those stories that makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside, even if it's just about a joke about Jareth in leather pants. Although there are several parts that require a total suspension of disbelief to get through, I've read this several times and it's never ceased to make me laugh. I totally recommend it if you're a fan of humor or laugh at the idea of a goblin wearing a tea cozy and pink stilettos.

My Fine Feathered Friend