Title: Freeze on the Stones
Fandom: Once Upon A Time
Pairing: Belle/Rumplestiltskin, Emma/?, Regina/?
Categories: Drama, AU, For Want Of A Nail, Darker and Grittier, Romance, Family, Redemption
Length:  Super-Epic (635 000 words)
Warnings: Non-con, Torture, lots of non-consensual things going on, violence, a couple of the more evil characters die

Author Website: Robin 4 on AO3 or Robin 4 on fanfiction.net


Author’s Summary:
One choice can change fate. Regina chooses love, Snow stays silent, and Cora casts the curse. Rumplestiltskin knows that trusting Cora with that much power is dangerous—but he has no choice if he wants to find his son. 28 years later, Gold and Regina awaken in Storybrooke and must work together to make the Savior believe.
Yes, this Storybrooke is far darker than the one you know.


Regarding the warnings:
A theme that comes up several times in Freeze on the Stones is the nature of consent and responsibility. Multiple characters are magically mind-controlled in various ways and encouraged or forced to harm or betray others. The different approaches and the different ways characters deal with it are interesting, but unflinching.

If you’re not comfortable with reading about people being trapped or forced into doing things, I’d definitely advise giving this fic a miss. None of the bad stuff is romanticised, but a lot of it is graphic. (Also, two men become better people because they are in love with good women. Which seems like a rather dodgy message to me.)


Review:
Freeze on the Stones assumes knowledge of canon. I would expect someone unfamiliar with canon to find the characters and circumstances hard to follow. However, the story takes the time to develop the characters it focuses on, so a basic grasp of the TV series is definitely enough to get you through.

Despite being a very long story, Freeze on the Stones is actually relatively fast-paced. It follows multiple people at any point and generally gives them one scene a chapter for the length of their story arc. Unusually for this style of writing, I only rarely found one story arc less compelling than the others. All the scenes were all well-written enough to be compelling, even when I didn’t particularly care for the main characters.

As you have probably gathered, this is a for want of a nail alternate universe, which explores what might have happened had it been Cora who cast the curse that created Storybrooke. While the result is very recognisable - the same characters in the same area in similar circumstances - there are many fascinating reversals from canon Season 1.

One of the more interesting themes it explores is Rumplestiltskin’s relationship with power. In canon, he feels extremely powerless without his magic, despite having sufficient money, reputation and blackmail to unquestionably be the most powerful person in town. In Freeze on the Stones, he is faced with a mayor who has the magical knowledge and viciousness to threaten him. It’s enjoyable to watch him deal with both that and a more equal relationship with the heroes.

Regina’s story is not about choosing between power and the people who love her, but about endlessly attempting to save the people she loves from her mother. It makes for less character development, as Regina simply ages to be more confident and caring. However, she is more active as a hero than a villain, so we still get a good look at her character and it is hard not to feel for her quiet sadness, calm compassion and desperate need to protect those she loves.

Freeze on the Stones at AO3
Freeze on the Stones at ff.net

Title: The Lazarus Gap
Fandom: Smallville
Pairing: Clark Kent/Lex Luthor
Categories/Genres: Amnesia, Identity
Length: 40156
Warnings:

Author/Artist on AO3: Author/Artist on AO3: Dolimir

Summary: A post-Exodus AU. Helen never happened. Everything else did.

Review: First let’s start with a summary because this does not encompass the glory this fic deserves.

Lex Luthor, caught in an explosion, wakes up and can’t remember anything about his life. There are many people telling him who he is supposed to be but he doesn’t want any of it. The only thing he has to hold onto are stories about his best friend. Martha Kent tells him about how he’s friends with her son and how when her son knows he’s hurt he’ll come back from the city for him. Lex kind of builds up this phantom Clark Kent in his head as perfect. The only good thing in his life to be proud of when all his past sins are being presented at his feet.

After being abducted and almost killed a second time he let’s people think he’s dead and starts his new life. Stuck in a wheelchair he lives at a monastery with the priest that saved him the second time. It’s just the two of them until a green eyed man drops into the mix with the name Jerome Kent and it turns out Lex isn’t the only one trying to run from the past.

This leads to a beautiful moment where Clark becomes jealous of himself. Lex admits he’s still waiting for the boy Martha told him about to find him because she swore he would. Clark justs wants Lex to see him as he is.

There is a whole lot of story here. Lex finds a purpose for himself and I love how it makes me feel justified in believing in Lex. I’ve always felt without the bad influences in his life he would have gone down a completely different road. In this fic he shows Clark how you can be a bit smarter about saving the world then just stopping the bad guys.

The Lazarus Gap

Title: In love with my radio
Fandom: Merlin
Pairing: Merlin Emrys/Arthur Pendragon
Categories/Genres: Secret Identity AU
Length: 27669
Warnings: None

Author/Artist on AO3:Lunchee



Summary: Merlin listens to the radio, Arthur stalks Merlin, Morgana lives to create chaos in Arthur's life, and then everyone goes to McDonalds! Also love happens.

From the kmm prompt: Arthur has an anonymous blog/lj/twitter where he posts about his life, and Merlin follows it RELIGIOUSLY. Arthur starts posting about how he's stalking this amazingly hot guy...


Review: This story is adorable. When Merlin first meets Arthur it’s when he is insanely drunk so he doesn’t remember a thing. Only Arthur does remember it and want’s to get revenge on Merlin for throwing a drink in his face (even though he deserved it). So Arthur as presenter of a radio show host starts a thing up where he is going to stalk this guy to learn his weaknesses. Only the things he learns and announces gives away his true feelings for the guy.

Merlin however cannot remember ever throwing a drink in someones face and so even though he watches the show religiously, and however much the guy Arthur’s talking about sounds like him he obliviously believes it can never be him as he never did that.

There is a lot of weird behaviour in this and Merlin just accepts it all. The girls dress him up in a girly headband and skirt and he barely even protests so you end up believing how easily he forgives Arthur probably isn’t that hard.

The best thing about this fic is that it has all my favourite things. A secret identity plus lots of pining. Arthur pretends he hates Merlin at first but eventually has to admit what every ones been telling him about how he clearly likes Merlin a lot. Lots and lots of obliviousness on Merlin’s part. Like alot.

In love with my radio

Title: Regression

Fandom: Haven
Pairing: gen-ish, early seasons canon-level Audrey Parker/Nathan Wuornos
Categories: casefile!, adventure, angst, friendship, amnesia (sort of), hurt/comfort (sort of)
Length: medium, 14,717 words
Warnings: Implied past childhood abuse (heavily hinted in canon), and it's rated mature for a catalogue of dark themes but nothing heavily described.

Author on Livejournal: n/a
Author Website: author unrevealed (author link will be added when the challenge is revealed).

Summary: In the beginning it was almost funny. Audrey figured the photo of Duke clutching the teddy bear should be worth free coffee-the good stuff-at least once a week. If only it hadn't brought up the past quite so viscerally.

Review: The crying stopped and Duke stiffened. "Uh, Nathan? Care to fill me in on why I am half naked and crying into your chest?"

It's a Haven casefic! Here's a Trouble that regresses people, psychologically, back to the worst times of their lives. From Duke's initial somewhat amusing/simultaneously embarrassing/even horrifying re-experience of childhood, to the awfulness of poor, poor Dwight under the influence, to Nathan's struggle at the climax, that's a Trouble which paves the way for some truly interesting things to be explored.

The Troubled Person is an interesting original character in his own right, with history and motives that feel human and true. The story isn't afraid to look into a few dark corners. But it's got a vein of humour and acknowledgement of the ridiculous of the Troubles and Haven in general running through it, that never lets it get *too* dark. (Plus, bonus appearance by Dr. Lucassi, who has to be one of my favourite understated minor characters of the show.)

It's labelled Audrey/Nathan plus Duke & Nathan and reads in line with a gen-ish season 2 type canon piece, and ends with a sleepover on the Cape Rouge, so really how you want to interpret the relationships in it is up for grabs.

This fic is a product of the recent Troubled Tales fic exchange, so it is currently author anonymous.

Regression

Title: Clutter
Fandom: Inuyasha
Pairing: Kagome Higurashi/Sesshoumaru
Categories/Genres: Alternate Universe, Fluff, Romance, Humor
Length: Long (~20000 words)
Warnings: N/A

Author on LJ: forthrightly
Author Website: Forthright

Summary:

AU. Mrs. Higurashi decides to help her daughter put her life together; enter Sesshoumaru, professional organizer extraordinaire. Kagome resents having a perfect stranger rummaging through her messes, but he's bound and determined to show her the folly of her easy-going ways. A romantic comedy told in 100-word snippets.

Review:

If I had never watched a minute, nor read a page of Inuyasha in my life, my life would be poorer not for never having known it, but for having missed this fic. Clutter exists in my mind as the quintessential fanfiction version of a nineties romcom. There's a quirky premise, a lead pair who push and pull with fantastic chemistry, and a supporting cast of (sometimes inanimate) characters that add humor and depth and the occasional wrench thrown into the lead pairing's respective lives.

For the uninitiated, forthright's use of the drabble can be jarring, and the number of chapters dauntinng, but it's easy enough to adapt, namely because forthright is a master of the format. Each 100 word segment works to move the story forward. Forthright is also generous with the punchlines, the humor light and quick and charming.

Clutter

Title: Thrill as only we know how
Fandom: Mission Impossible : Ghost Protocol
Pairing: William Brant/Ethan Hunt
Categories/Genres: Bonding, Romance, Oblivious!Will, Pining!Ethan, Pining!Will
Length: 28394
Warnings: Hurt/Comfort

Author/Artist on AO3: Inmyriadbits
Author/Artist on AO3: Spatz

Summary:

After their meeting on the pier in Seattle, the team goes their separate ways. But Ghost Protocol left the IMF in turmoil, so Will, Ethan, Jane, and Benji team up to take on the Syndicate, a mysterious and widespread criminal organization. Will has to adjust to being a field agent again, and learn how to work with his team when the world isn’t on the line -- all while dealing with attack cheetahs, unexpected amnesia, train robbery, master thieves, and more.

Falling in love was not part of his scenario.


Review:
What's lovely about this fic is how carefully it is built up. It's slow and neat and you get the sense of friendship and trust before you get to any romance at all. And even though it is from Will's point of view you can read between the lines how Ethan is falling for Will way before you ever guess it's returned.

Thrill as only we know how

Title: Two Plants and a Girl
Fandom: Trigun
Pairing: Meryl Stryfe/Millions Knives, Vash the Stampede/Milly Thompson
Categories/Genres: Action/Adventure, Amnesia, Angst, AU, Drama, Family, Fluff, Friendship, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Kids, Post-Canon, Pregnancy, Romance
Length: Epic (74,073 words)
Warnings: Minor (OC) character death, Non-descriptive mention of child molestation, Descriptions of gore

Author on LJ: N/A
Author Website: Thunk

Summary:

Meryl becomes more important to Vash than he wants to admit. But Knives sees it. Knives capitalizes on it. But he finds it increasingly difficult to exploit the Insurance girl, for reasons far too old, and not buried deep enough.

Review:

I'm not entirely sure how I've gone this long without reccing this fic. Probably because it's posted on FF.net. No, don't run away! It's good, I swear!

Two Plants and a Girl is an AU fusion of the Trigun anime and the backstory that's revealed in the manga. It picks up from where the anime leaves off, with Knives slowly recovering from his fight against Vash in the anime's finale under the watchful eyes and tender mercies of Vash, Meryl, and Milly.

What I really appreciate about this fic is that Thunk knows their stuff. The bits and pieces of background and worldbuilding incorporated into the fic are sourced from the manga and thoroughly contemplated, providing a much more nuanced and believable Knives than the anime's straight-up-psycho interpretation. He's still an unrepentant asshole, but his canonical actions have weight and meaning and consequence that don't sit easy with him even a century later.

Thunk also presents a reasonable and quite logical plan to give Knives and Vash what they both want, pushing compromise rather than conflict in an anime/manga that basically centers around the conflict between the two. That's not to say that Thunk sucks all the friction out of their relationship, however.

Thunk also deals with Knives' massive damage with deft storytelling. The pacing of the story, which jumps over various stretches of time, can make it seem contrived on occasion, but the emotional depth of the events and the consequent growth of Knives' shriveled little soul signal to the reader a rocky but definitely substantial progress that is satisfying to watch.

There are some moments that are oddly OOC, mostly related to the forced early attraction between Knives and Meryl, and the very end, when Knives is so overcome with guilt and grief that he becomes a weepy parody of himself, but barring those, the interaction between the two is pretty damn great.

If you ever watched the Trigun anime and clicked away from the finale wondering, well, now what?, you absolutely read this fic. Yeah, I know it's on FF.net, but would I ever lead you astray?

Don't answer that.

Two Plants and a Girl

Title: Memories
Fandom: One Piece
Pairing: Zoro/Sanji, Kid/Law, implied Chaka/Pell
Genres: AU, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Established Relationship, Amnesia
Length: Super Epic (223,146 words for the entire series)
Warnings: Violence

Author on LJ: stark_black
Author Website: AO3

Author's Summary:
Sanji has been in a coma for eleven months, but he's lost his memory of the past two years. Now, he doesn't remember Zoro, or the life the two of them had built together.

Review:
I'm generally not fond of amnesia fic, to be honest. I usually end up skipping to the end, where the person gets their memories back, and they have to deal with the fallout of what happened while they couldn't remember. But this fic, oh, this fic. When Sanji wakes up, he doesn't remember Zoro, doesn't remember falling in love with a man. It's so interesting to read as Sanji is discharged and tries to settle into a life he doesn't remember. I love his and Zoro's relationship, and Zoro's patience with him, even though it hurts that Sanji can't remember. I love how Sanji falls in love with Zoro all over again. I also enjoy how the entire fic isn't about Zoro and Sanji. Usopp and Kaya are having issues, and Chopper is going through a difficult time as well. I don't want to spoil anything :) They include so many characters from the manga, too, nearly everyone gets a role.

You can tell this was essentially copied and pasted from livejournal, since the author occasionally included the last couple paragraphs from the previous chapter in the next chapter, as a reminder of how things were left. Still, it's easily skipped over. The writing is simple but engaging, the plot is interesting, and the characters are so fun.

Memories

Title: Leave Your Field to Flower
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Draco/Harry
Categories: AU, Post-War, Group Amnesia, Romance, Drama
Length: Long (12,578)
Warnings: None

Author on LJ: emmagrant01
Author on AO3: emmagrant01
Author's website: Emma Grant's Fiction

Author's summary: Draco Malfoy is like all the other Survivors of the disaster -- except for one called Harry Potter.

Review:
Here's a classic that I just realized has never been recced here. Draco begrudgingly attends group meetings with Hermione, Neville, Romilda, Fred and others who were victims of an accident and can't remember anything about their pasts. Harry is the oddest, with a crazy story about how they used to be wizards and witches.

It's a unique plot that makes Draco good friends with Hermione, and, to some extent, with all the survivors. But strange things happen whenever any of them get angry or afraid, and Harry may seem crazy, but he's offering a bit of proof. The problem is, the way Harry tells it, all the victims seem to have been friends with everyone but Draco.

There's a lot to love in this beautifully crafted fic, with Draco unhappy about what Harry's story says about him, and with the way things seem familiar and yet not. There's a need for everyone to figure out who they are now, and there's a growing closeness between Harry and Draco, a relationship that probably wouldn't have happened without this new start.

Leave Your Field to Flower on AO3
On LJ: Part 1, Part 2
En Español : Deja que tu Campo Florezca translated by La traductora (PerlaNegra)

Title: Our Memories Are Numbered
Fandom:  Teen Wolf
Pairing:  Derek/Stiles
Categories:  Amnesia, First Time
Length:  Long (23,105)
Warnings:  Dubious Consent (because of the amnesia)

Author on LJ:  rufflefeather
Author Website:  AO3

Summary: Stiles’ Jeep grinds to a halt, he sees someone running through the rain, he's not expecting it to be Derek. He's not expecting a Derek without any memories either, or an Alpha pack that's coming for all of them. He probably should've, because lately nothing goes the way he expects.

Review:  I love a good amnesia story, and "Our Memories Are Numbered" is one of the best in this fandom. While driving through the woods one day, Stiles comes across an amnesiac Derek on the run from something he can't remember. As they try to piece together the puzzle of Derek's missing memories, Stiles finds himself increasingly drawn to this newer, more carefree Derek -- and the feeling is obviously mutual.

The great irony of Teen Wolf amnesia fic is that the trauma of Derek losing his memories is always less than the trauma of getting them back. Without the shadow of his family's death hanging over him, Derek is confident and magnetic, almost carefree. I love watching him interact with the pack. There are some great moments with Isaac and Peter, especially. I also really liked the way Rufflefeather wrote Sheriff Stilinski. The sheriff's initial suspicion towards Derek rang true to me, as did his begrudging acceptance later in the story. My favorite aspect of this story, though, is the chemistry between amnesiac!Derek and Stiles. This is a Derek who knows exactly who and what he wants, and without Kate's influence, he sees no problem with trying to take it. Stiles, meanwhile, desperately wants to succumb to Derek's advances, but is trying to hold off out of respect for the Derek he knows. The mutually-acknowledged UST is smoldering in this, and when the sex finally does happen, it is well worth the wait. As befits an amnesia fic, there is plenty of angst in this story, but it stems naturally from the characters and the situations and never feels artificial. The ending is deeply satisfying to me. I've read this story a good half-dozen times, and probably will read it several times more before I've finished with this fandom.Also make sure to check out the amazing artwork by alby_mangroves, which is embedded in the story's AO3 post!

Our Memories Are Numbered

Title: I Got a Love (That Keeps Me Waiting)
Fandom: Hockey RPF
Pairing: Patrick Kane/Jonathan Toews
Categories: Amnesia, Angst, AU, Domestic, Fluff, Pregnancy, Romance,
Length: Super!Epic (160k)
Warnings: Mpreg; Sex while under the influence

Author on LJ: svmadelyn
Website: svmadelyn

Summary:There's a lot of different ways this summary could go, like:

Patrick Kane gets more than a gold medal in Sochi.

Or, the classic: It's too late to pull out now.

Or: Patrick Kane continues to thrive in high pressure situations.

Or: Patrick Kane gets knocked up, goes to White Castle, and finds love, not necessarily in that order.

But, ultimately, all that really matters is this: Patrick Kane is keeping his baby.

Review: This is a sweet and slow building fic that takes advantage of a lot of the tropes wrapped up in accidental pregnancy and one night stands.

Despite this, the author doesn't make any assumptions about how the story has to follow the tropes. Svmadelyn allows Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews to narrate the story in what feels like an organic manner.

None of the little issues or problems related to pregnancy are glossed over to make everything seem glowing and happy. Neither of the main characters are without their weaknesses or issues. It feels natural that they get together, because of the way that Svmadelyn builds the story up with their families and friends getting their own opinion and screen time.

Why you might not want to read this story: If you aren't familiar with the Hockey fandom and don't feel comfortable with not knowing the base characters well this might not be the story for you. Also if you don't feel comfortable with Mpreg or partners keeping secrets from each other, this might hit a few too many of your soft spots.

I Got a Love (That Keeps Me Waiting)

Title: Flying Weight
Fandom: Supernatural
Pairing: Sam/Dean, Dean/OMC
Genres: AU, Sam-centric, Angst, Amnesia, Mystery
Length: Epic (48,747 words)
Warnings: Non-con, dub-con, torture, incest

Author on LJ: fleshflutter
Author Website: flesh @ AO3

Author's Summary:
Sam wakes after being soulless for three years to discover that Dean and his relationship with him have undergone some serious changes. Through traveling and hunting with Dean, Sam struggles to put his life back together after events he has only limited memory of. A season six wincest AU.

Review:
I'm usually one that avoids angsty fics, but this one is a beautiful example of angst done right, being the thing that makes the story rather than a gratuitous addon. Sam regains his soul after a much longer period of time than in canon, waking up to a different world and a different Dean. A Dean who won't tell Sam what happened whilst his soul was missing, and in fact doesn't even seem to want to be around him. Sam's bewilderment and hurt are heart-wrenching to read, and I found myself with my heart in my throat throughout the fic, aching for him as he tries to figure out what happened when he was gone and why his and Dean's relationship is so stilted and changed.

Both Sam and Dean are characterised beautifully. Sam is all too easy to empathise with, and Dean is understandably different but still very much recognisable after three years of soulless!Sam. You'll be at the edge of your seat whilst reading this fic - it really takes you on an emotional ride. At the ending of my first read through I felt like I'd been through the wringer - in an awesome way! - as I was so invested in the characterisation and the story. This is one hell of a fic that you should read even if, like me, you're not much of an angst lover.

Flying Weight

Title: Welcome to Cyber Vale
Fandom: Welcome to Night Vale
Pairing: Carlos/Cecil Palmer, Dana/Leann, Kevin/Original Male Character
Categories/Genres: Alternate Universe, Sci Fi, Action/Adventure, Romance, Fluff, Humor, Amnesia, Mystery
Length: Epic (49906 words)
Warnings: Very temporary character death

Author/Artist on LJ: N/A
Author/Artist Website: Hubris_And_Crafts

Summary:

Based on an AU SciFi concept by freedomconvicted on tumblr. Carlos is a scientist who has been called in to assist with C.E.C.I.L, an A.I. that runs the artificial planet known as the Vale Colony. However, none of his superiors bothered to inform him that the A.I. appears to be completely insane. And prone to falling in love.

Review:

When is a Night Vale not a Night Vale? When it's a Night Vale in space!

I've always been a fan of science fiction, a love instilled in me in the early days of reading when at least a dozen of my father's science fiction books were lying around at any given time. So for there to be a full-length sci fi AU of Night Vale? Well, sign me up!

The fictional future of Welcome to Cyber Vale is a subtly realized world, left mostly blank for the reader's imagination to fill in, assisted by the little tidbits of information that are fed to us, mostly by casual mention of the characters. It's minimalist worldbuilding, which seemed a little odd to me as a veteran sci fi reader, until I realized that that very minimalism is precisely characteristic of the canonical Welcome to Night Vale itself.

It's that very sense of in-character atmosphere that makes this fic stand out among the many Alternate Universe fics I've read. So much of the time, writers will take characters out of their original canon to put them in settings and circumstances that bear little to no resemblance to the source setting. There's nothing wrong with that, of course. I can think of few things more thrilling than seeing how a character exists in and reacts to a world they weren't originally created in. But Hubris_And_Crafts's ability to write so many parallels with canon while creating a world new and different took my breath away. I found myself grinning at all the characters and their familiar quirks and laughing with excitement at all the phrases and stories lifted from the canon to be given new homes in this new universe. Reading Cyber Vale, everything was the same even while nothing was the same.

And that's the very charm of Welcome to Night Vale itself, I think. That sometimes things that are so strange can be so comfortingly familiar in spite of their alienness.

Welcome to Cyber Vale

Title: Never Was a Stranger
Fandom: Teen Wolf
Pairing: Derek/Stiles
Categories: Time travel, future, hurt/comfort , magic!Stiles, first time, virginity, romance,
Length: Medium (8,915 words)
Warnings: Sort of underage, but sort of not. (see LJ rec for spoilery details.)
Author on LJ: dsudis
Author Websites: Dira Sudis

Author's Summary: Derek sighed and rubbed his forehead. "What if I told you I traveled back in time to protect you."

Review:
This opens with Stiles waking up to an altered world with no memory of how he got there, and I do have a soft spot for stories that drop me right into the thick of it. Despite the summary, it's Stiles who's time travelling, as the unwanted side effect of a spell cast in the future in order to find a way to keep the pack from harm. Luckily for Stiles, Derek is there to explain things to him, although really it's Derek's behavior that says even more than his words. They have a very different relationship in the future, one that Stiles is trying to wrap his head around while also trying not to freak out about his situation.

There are some lovely touches along the way, like the hurt/comfort, the moonlight app, and Derek becoming Stiles' first sexual experience even though he wasn't Stiles' first sexual experience... Time travel. It rocks.

Never Was a Stranger

Title: Soul Deep
Fandom: NCIS
Pairing: Tony/Gibbs;
Categories:Angst, Amnesia, Casefic, Hurt/Comfort,
Length: Epic (84k)
Warnings:Daemons; Kidnapping; Torture; Murder; Child Abuse/Neglect

Author on LJ: xanthe
Website: Xanthe

Summary:Most people never touch another person's soul...but when a 20 year old Leroy Jethro Gibbs meets an 8 year old Tony DiNozzo, it sparks an event that links them forever.

Review: This fic is dark, creepy, scary and sad by turns. A great treat for a stormy Halloween night. And it has a happy ending before you get too scared off.

If you're not familiar with Daemon AUs, Xanthe has a nice intro to them in the Author's notes at the beginning of the story.

This is an origin story for Tony and Jethro, following them from the time Tony is 8 years old, until a few years into canon. Xanthe as always, does an amazing job of questioning canon, and showing details that you never though about when you were first watching or reading canon.

For instance the question of what happens to a daemon, when their partner is so twisted that they start killing and torturing other daemons?

Soul Deep

Title: The Rat and the Ruby Slippers
Fandom: Welcome to Night Vale
Pairing: Carlos/Kevin, Carlos/Cecil
Categories: Amnesia, Drama, Established Relationship, Horror, Mystery, Romance
Length: Medium (7119 words)
Warnings: Emotional and mental manipulation by an Eldritch entity

Author on LJ: indigostohelit
Author Website: indigostohelit

Author's Summary:

Carlos is having the strangest dreams, and the strangest headaches, like there's something he's supposed to be remembering. Not to mention the intern's wedding coming up, and that new chemical StrexCorp wants him to develop. It's going to be a busy week.

Review:

In psychology, there's a concept called 'object permanence', which is the brain's capacity to understand that an object exists even when it can't be observed with any of the five senses. Indigostohelit's The Rat and the Ruby Slippers explores that idea within the Welcome to Night Vale universe and how it ties into memory and, more prominently, amnesia.

Truthfully, there's very little I can say without utterly spoiling the fic, except that indigostohelit is thorough when it comes to exploring the different aspects of memory, particularly their mutability and the power they have. Also, their resilience against being forgotten. After all, memories are physically built into our brains, endless collections of endless data written into the very fiber of our being, and though we may lose the way to those memories, we still carry them within us, just as surely as we all carry a little bit of home within ourselves no matter where we go.

The Rat and the Ruby Slippers is a story of how Carlos discovers that, and how he saves all of Night Vale from a fate worse than death.

The Rat and the Ruby Slippers

Title: Outsider Perspective
Fandom: Person of Interest
Pairing: Harold Finch/John Reese
Categories: Amnesia, Action/Adventure, Romance, First Time, Mistaken Identities, Misunderstandings, Pining
Length: Medium (13095 words)
Warnings: Canon-typical violence

Author on LJ: neery
Author Website: Neery

Author's Summary:

John and Harold lose their memories

Review:

There's a very special place in my heart for fics where a character suffers amnesia, and Outsider Perspective inflicts amnesia on both lead characters, so I was pretty much a lost cause from the start. But what hits me even harder in my fannish heart than my love of amnesia is how Neery explores what I love so much about the trope in the first place: the issue of 'who are you when you're not anyone?' In my mind, the answer to that question has always revolved around the balance and conflict of nature versus nurture.

Lacking 'nurture', Finch and Reese immediately fall back on nature, depending upon what their lives have ingrained into their bodies to guide them in their search for identity. Reese turns predictably to the gut feelings and instincts his past has trained him to listen to. Finch falls immediately into the familiar patterns of code and data and analysis. Yet in spite of everything, they still gravitate toward each other, like the trust and affection they've come to share has been carved into their very bodies just as surely as their respective careers.

But my favorite part of all is when the amnesia fades and the two men come to realize that what is natural and what is nurtured are two deeply interconnected parts of the whole of who they are.

Outsider Perspective

Title: Put Away Childish things
Fandom: Mavel: Avengers MCU
Pairing: Everybody/Everybody
Categories: Action/Adventure, Amnesia, Angst, Kids, Family, Friendship, Romance
Length:Long (37,000)
Warnings:Torture, Kidnapping, Childabuse

Author on LJ: arsenicjade
Website: Taste of Poison

Summary:Tony and Clint are captured by villains who can only get what they want from a child-Tony. So, obviously, they de-age him. Because comics.

Review: The story starts out a bit dark, with Tony and Clint's capture, Tony's de-aging, and then the inevitable torture. Clint's voice in this part of the story is simply amazing. Spare and angry but still so worried about Tony and trying so hard to figure everything out no matter what happens.

Once they're rescued the story really takes off though. With all sorts of fluffy, gooey feel good moments that will make you want to cuddle Kid!Tony and amaze you with the Avengers Bada** babysitting skills.

Put Away Childish Things

Title: Three Days, Two Nights and One Lifetime
Fandom: Star Wars
Pairing: gen
Categories: Amnesia, Drama, Hurt/Comfort, Family
Length: Medium (7,480 words)
Warnings: n/a

Author on LJ: unknown
Author Website: Mina1 on fanfiction.net, Author's website

Author's Summary:
When a mission goes sour and leaves Luke with mild amnesia and temporary blindness, he finds himself rescued by a black-caped Imperial Force user. Luke and Vader must work together to escape death. Unashamed Luke Vader Father Son story, 1 year post-ANH.

Review:
I'm a sucker for amnesia stories, and the amnesia and temporary blindness in this fic allow for an interesting father/son story set post Star Wars: A New Hope. We never got to see much interaction between Luke and Vader, and here we have Luke conversing with a man he doesn't quite recognize as they struggle through a hostile environment together to make it to safety. We, the readers, know who the mysterious "Kin" really is and it's fascinating to see Vader start to get to know Luke, while concealing his own identity.

It may be a bit medically implausible, but like all good h/c fic it really hits me in my id and satisfies my love of Original Trilogy family-centric Star Wars.

( Click here to read an excerpt. )

Three Days, Two Nights and One Lifetime (ffn), (author's website)