jasmasson

Dear Yuletide Writer Letter 2025

Fri, 24 Oct 2025 12:11:09 GMT

Hello!

Thank you for signing up to the challenge and I’m very excited you got matched with me.

General things about my likes and dislikes; 1) I usually write m/m when I write myself, but am always happy with good gen, 2) I’m happy with any rating from the lightest, fluffiest gen to the most explicit NC17, and I’m good with most kinks including BDSM (my particular kink being orgasm delay/denial/control), incest and rapefic if that’s your jam, with the exceptions being scat, water sports or blood play, and actual damage either physical or mental; and finally 3) I’m all about the happy ending, so no darkfic or death fic please (other than cannon if necessary), but I‘m perfectly happy for them to suffer along the way to a happy ending!

Treats are cherished!

Some more specifics about my requests:( Read more... )

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Yuletide! \o/

Sun, 21 Sep 2025 21:08:10 GMT

It’s yuletide time again!

I love Yuletide - this year I’ve nominated something that has precisely zero (0) fics on AO3, or, to my knowledge, anywhere on the interweb. How amazing would it be to write the first ever fic for something? I don’t think it will start a movement, as it’s over 35 years old, but who knows, maybe someone else also remembers an obscure movie from 1989?!

Fannish 50: #14

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2 Recs: Directed BDSM verve

Fri, 29 Aug 2025 19:47:20 GMT

So I need to chuck out a couple more recs to tick off one of my fanfic reading challenge tasks, so here’s two fics I have read this year that I enjoyed a lot. They were, however, rereads (BTW about 17% of the fics I’ve read to far this year have been rereads, more than 100. If something’s good it’s good, right?)

I wouldn’t normally have reread so much, I don’t think, except I’ve had to look for things to tick off my tasks so when I’ve remembered fics that fit I’ve used them, of course.

These two fics go together because they are both in the BDSM ‘Directed’ verse, which was started by Helenish with ‘Take Clothes Off as Directed’ in Stargate: SGA. Not linking that fic because I can’t find it - possibly deleted? Anyway it works on the premise you have Doms and Subs and uses those to explore stereotypes and prejudice as an analogy of sexism. Very interesting.

I really like these two fics because one takes place in the armed forces where masculinity is an important and challenging concept, and one in the seventies, where sexism was rife. Really interesting reads (also, very sexy, not to bring the tone down too much!).

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Fandom: Life on Mars (UK)
Pairings/Characters: Sam Tyler/Gene Hunt, Annie Cartwright/Sam Tyler
Rating: Explicit
Length: 23,930 words
Creator Links: petra at AO3
Theme: BDSM

Summary:

Sam hid his true nature from the world until he was hit by a car and woke up in 1973, where it became painfully obvious to him that everyone knew he was a submissive, particularly his new DCI.

Reccer’s Notes: Sam’s modern sensibilities clashing with 70s attitudes is the main theme of LoM as a programme. It’s particularly interesting to add the D/s dynamic into the mix. Warnings for dubious consent (coercion as the author terms it) as Sam is placed in situations both sexual, discipline and otherwise, he initially does not want to be in.

Fanwork links: Ease my worried mind

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Fandom: Generation Kill
Pairings/Characters: Ray Person/Brad Colbert
Rating: Explicit
Length: 32,216 words
Creator Links: derryderrydown at AO3
Theme: BDSM

Summary:

Directed-verse Gen Kill.

Reccer’s Notes: Ray is the only sub in Bravo, and Brad claims him as a sun in Iraq. Just to make things easier, obviously. I have a bullet proof love for people who write BDSM and keep the players perfectly in character. This fic is a job exceptionally well done.

Fanwork links: Take MOPP off as directed

Fannish 50: #13

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A fannish half year in review: Jan-Jun 2025

Fri, 29 Aug 2025 14:24:53 GMT

So I’ve been doing the very enjoyable Fanfic Reading Challenge and, because of that, I have for the first time ever stats on what I read, and therefore, because I love a stat, I’m laying my half year’s reading out for posterity (what do you mean, 2 months late?).

In relation the the reading challenge by the end of June I had completed 211 of the 250 tasks and 7 out of 15 of the categories. 🥳 That means I’ve already completed Hard Mode (150 tasks) and will definitely get to Extreme Mode (220 tasks) for certain. Obviously I have picked the low hanging fruit here and completing tasks is becoming harder. Whether I’ll actually do the 250 to complete I’m not sure (although I rather suspect my love of ticking off lists might compel me to…)

Words
I read 10,088,759 words over 633 fics meaning an average length of 15,938 words per fic.

Fandoms
I read in 129 different fandoms! That stat shocked me, although I knew I’d read in more fandoms than I ever had before as one of the Fanfic Reading Challenge tasks is to read in 60 different fandoms (still got four to go because of the number of words requirement for the task, despite having read 129 fandoms!!).

I got into The Untamed/CQL/MDZS Fandom earlier this year and that dominated my reading. I read 3,850,762 words in The Untamed. Second was DC at less than a quarter of that at 815,559 words. Top 5 rounded out with Star Wars, Inception and Les Miserables, although a few really long fics in Les Mis doing a lot of the heavy lifting there.

If you go with numbers of fics instead of words, therefore, the change to the top five is only Les Mis swapped out for Stargate SGA. I read 154 The Untamed fics, 80 DCU, 69 Star Wars, 31 Inception and 23 Stargate

Caveat I suppose – the 129 fandoms looks impressive, but a lot of fandoms I just glanced over to get my Reading Challenge tick. Truthfully of the 129 fandoms, I only read more than 5 fics in 16 of them, and there’s a loooong tail of 79 (over half of the) fandoms I only read one fic in.

Pairing

As an OTP kind of a gal, you’d expect my pairings to pretty much mirror my fandoms, as I usually only really read one pairing in a fandom BUT! DCU has thrown in a curve ball because I primarily read in Batfam fics so the focus is spread out over a lot of different relationships and includes a lot of gen.

I read 212 different pairings. The challenge has a ‘100 Pairings’ task, which I totally smashed! 😉

So I read 3,288,915 words of Lan Zhan/Wei Ying, Obi-Wan/Anakin next at only 12% of that at 399,882 words. Third was Gen at 391,223 words (mostly thanks to DCU), fourth Arthur/Eames (380,896), fifth Enjrolas/Grantaire (313,037) and sixth MacKay/Sheppard (273,135).

By number of fics, I read 135 fics with Lan Zhan/Wei Ying as the main pairing, which is more than double the amount of Gen fics I read (63) and more than four times the amount of the next actual pairing of Arthur/Eames (31 fics).

Authors
I’ve only done Authors by number of fics rather than words because I think the words are meaningless, it’s whether I looked at a fic and went, ‘yes! that one!’ that really counts. I read 486 different authors this year, but very few I read more than 1 fic of (71). The authors I read most fics of were:

Petra (15), astolat (9), Icannotthinkofapenname (7), Helenish (6), Graciously (5), Rosey_peach, Resonant, Shanastoryteller, and iliaquer (all 4)

Ratings
In news to no one, I read more explicit fics than any other rating. What can I say?

Fannish 50: #12

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Rec: Mo Dao Zu Shi/The Untamed; The Simplest Way Forward by harriet_vane

Tue, 26 Aug 2025 15:16:49 GMT

Fandom: Mo Dao Zu Shi/The Untamed
Pairings/Characters: Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji/Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian
Rating: Explicit
Length: 70,972 words
Creator Links: harriet_vane at AO3
Theme: Marriage of Convenience

Summary:

It’s a really unfortunate thing, developing a crush on your husband. Wei Ying had assumed this would be easy. Lan Zhan had been so icy and unpleasant to him, it had never occurred to him that he might end up spending the next however many years with this dumb, burning feeling in his chest whenever he looks at him.

“Okay,” says Wei Ying. “But tell me if I…if the pretending gets to be too hard, okay?”

“It will not,” says Lan Zhan, quietly certain.

Reccer’s Notes: Is it redundant to rec a fic that has 31,682 kudos (and counting)? Probably. Am I going to do it anyway? Yes. Yes, I am.

Because it is fabulous.

It’s kidfic with Yaun at his most adorable, it’s a modern AU, it’s beautifully written and even if you’ve read it before I’m sure now is a great time for a reread.

Lan Zhan is his impeccable, smitten, useless at communicating self and Wei Wuxian is, as always, just doing his best in the circumstances he finds himself in.

An absolute classic. BTW, If you haven’t dipped a toe in MDZS canon or fanon, you could read this anyway due to its AU nature, and then perhaps be hooked… 31,682 AO3 users can’t be wrong, right?

Fanwork links: The Simplest Way Forward

Fannish 50: #11

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Rec: Die Hard Movies: Pre-Existing Condition by Helenish

Sat, 23 Aug 2025 12:35:38 GMT

Fandom: Die Hard 4.0
Pairings/Characters: Matt Farrell/John McClane
Rating: Not Rated (I would say Gen or Teen at most)
Length: 13,139 words
Creator Links: Helenish at AO3
Theme: Marriage of Convenience

Summary:

“Anyway, he’s staying with me for a while,” John says.

“My place got firebombed,” Matt says, reflexively.

Reccer’s Notes: This fic is absolutely note perfect. The characters feel absolutely on point and the marriage of convenience trope feels completely natural. An exploration of how to be normal after something absolutely crazy has happened to you.

It feels very warm and true and absolutely delightfully done in Helenish’s brilliant way of writing.

Fanwork links: Pre-Existing Condition

Fannish 50: #10

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Dick Grayson Exchange Letter 2025

Fri, 11 Apr 2025 08:07:09 GMT

( Dick Grayson sign up letter )

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AO3 fic meme

Tue, 01 Apr 2025 14:17:17 GMT

A look at my AO3 fic stats. Most of my fic on AO3 had been transferred in from LJ and archives, so terribly misleading but still interesting…

1. Most Hits: Rituals (for winners and losers) Harry Potter, Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy. Just BDSM porn. 34,537 hits. Porn tags get clicks. As does Harry/Draco. But less people engage with straight up porn, I find… swings and roundabouts I guess!

2. Second Most Kudos: Maybe Baby Smallville, Clex. 778 kudos. My most kudoed fic for years until recently overtaken by the latest fic I wrote, Limping. Written in the LJ/SSA days and then archived here, so most of the feedback on that was not on AO3.

3. Third Most Comments: Off the Script SPN RPS - J2. Just porn again. Probably the most popular thing I’ve ever written in terms of comments (off AO3) and awards.

4. Fourth Most Bookmarks: Limping A newer Batfam gen bat family fic. People use AO3 a lot differently now that back in the day so not surprising to see newer fic scoring highly…

5. Fifth Most Words: However you like it . SPN Wincest, only 9,090 words. I don’t write long fic… mostly just self indulgent porn!

Fannish 50 #6

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Fandom Catnip

Sat, 29 Mar 2025 21:26:10 GMT

I’ve been doing the Fanfic Reading Challenge 2025, which, while I’ve been trying to find fics to fit the categories, has made me think about all the fandoms I’ve read in in the nearly 30 years since I first read a fanfic.

I’ve got to read 100 different ships at least and 60 different fandoms. The fandom one is made more difficult by the stipulation you can only read a maximum of three fandoms that start with each letter of the alphabet for this challenge. How many fandoms have I read in that start with S? Dozens. How many that start with a K? Or a V? Or an E? *crickets*

Could you do it?

Anyway, while reflecting on fandoms I have loved, I’ve thought again about how the bullet proof trope that I adore is a power imbalance. That, more than anything, will suck me into a fandom. The power imbalance can be structural - like boss, master, King, etc - physical power imbalance or an emotional imbalance - the lover and the loved - but I’m nearly always here for it.

What’s your fandom catnip?

Fannish 50 #5

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Loki!

Thu, 27 Mar 2025 10:01:40 GMT

This very day I shall be in the same (very large) room as Tom Hiddleston as I’m going to see him and Hayley Atwell in Much Ado About Nothing, which I’ve very much been looking forward to.

One of the advantages of living near a big city (in my case, London) is the opportunity to experience a big ‘cultural hub’. So I’ve been lucky enough to see quite a few of my fannish favourites live and in person at the theatre. Here’s a list off the top of my head:

Loki and Agent Carter - Much Ado About Nothing
Ripley - The Tempest
Draco Malfoy - 2:22 A Ghost Story
Sherlock and Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch and Johnny Lee Miller) - Frankenstein
Professor X v1.0 (Patrick Stewart) - Waiting for Godot
Professor X v2.0 (James Macavoy) - Macbeth
The Doctor (David Tennant) - The Good Man
The Doctor (Matt Smith) and Mr Robot (Christian Slater) - Swimming with Sharks
Dumbledore v3.0 (Jude Law) - Dr Faustus
James Bond v4.0 (Timothy Dalton) - His Dark Materials

and my absolute favourite

Obi-Wan Kenobi v2.0 (Ewan MacGregor) - Guys and Dolls

Who have you seen and who would be your dream to see?

Fannish 50: #4

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Rec: Batman (DC): A calculated risk, by thegrayson

Sat, 18 Jan 2025 09:27:35 GMT

Fandom: Batman
Pairings/Characters: Bruce Wayne/Dick Grayson
Rating: Explicit
Length: 14,349 words
Creator Links: thegrayson at AO3
Theme: (Not really) Unrequited Love

Summary:

It had been almost two months since Bruce had last seen Dick, both of them busy in their respective cities, when a wide-scale threat has the Justice League calling for reinforcements. It wouldn't be accurate to say that Bruce was grateful to the mind-controlling aliens threatening civilians, but he wasn't ungrateful either.

In which Bruce pines, dreams, and takes a chance.

Reccer’s Notes: This pairing is often problematic; angsty or even downright dark. Not this fic! It leans in to them as partners, the original dynamic duo, and Bruce Wayne as the awkward human being he is, and sometimes as a reader you just want nice things, right?

Fanwork links: A calculated risk

Fannish 50: #3

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Fandom engagement

Mon, 06 Jan 2025 13:04:03 GMT

The article The Endless Appetite for Fanfiction by by Elizabeth Minkel on fansplaining.com was linked by amalthia and was very interesting. Very much mirrors my experience of fandom.

Without doubt, the best time I had in fandom was in the LJ days, where fanfic and fandom were together, but in fairness AO3 is a much better reader experience and fanfic repository than lj ever was, but as the author argues it makes it a pure reading experience rather than an engagement with a fandom.

Not sure that’s ever going to get better, however, in the spirit of ‘being the change you want to see in the world’ my New Years resolution is to comment on any fic I like enough to bookmark, and kudos any fic I like at all. I could do better, I know, but NY resolutions are all about achievable goals, right?

I’m doing https://www.tumblr.com/fanfic-reading-challenge (again, if you like reading fanfic, enjoy spreadsheets and feel a great sense of satisfaction in ticking items off a to do list you should give it a try, it’s great) and one of the comment tasks was to comment on at least 10 chapters of a 20 chapter or more fic and I rather enjoyed doing that. I don’t believe I’ve ever commented more than once on a fic before and it was rather fun - I’ll definitely do it again!

And finally every time I rec a fic, I’ll drop a comment to the author saying I did so; that’s always nice to hear, right!

Fannish 50: #2

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Rec: X-Men: Lucid Dreaming by Listerinezero

Sun, 05 Jan 2025 22:50:47 GMT

Fandom: X-Men
Pairings/Characters: Erik Lensherr/Charles Xavier
Rating: Mature
Length: 28,567 words
Creator Links: Listerinezero at AO3
Theme: (Not really) Unrequited Love, Time-travel fix-it

Summary:

Magneto finds himself in 1962, on the morning they go to Cuba, in the bed of the young Charles who'd spent months letting him think they were in love before breaking his heart. But he is not the same man he was forty years earlier, and as he gets to know young Charles again, he discovers that things might not have been exactly the way he remembered them after all.

Reccer’s Notes: Lovely take on an older Magneto finding his perceptions of what happened before being challenged. Magneto and Professor X are the poster children for this theme as they continually just miss and challenge each other. This fic portrays them beautifully.

Fanwork links: Lucid Dreaming

Fannish 50: #1

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Being Fannish - Extreme Version!

Sun, 29 Dec 2024 22:23:35 GMT

I have signed up for three (3) year long fannish challenges for 2025 and am rather excited.

Blogging (mentioned before)

I have signed up for Fannish 50 on goals_on_dw so will post 50 fannish things in the next year. They will be fanfic recs because I love reccing, and I’ll certainly be reccing on fancake, so two birds one stone. 😁

One post a week more or less seems doable…

https://goals-on-dw.dreamwidth.org/4343.html

Writing

I’ve signed up for getyourwordsout. The lowest habit challenge (rather than word-based) where I’m looking to write on 120 days over the year. 10 a month is challenging, but I’m good at planning so fingers crossed.

Reading

I’m going to do https://www.tumblr.com/fanfic-reading-challenge which I am loving the look of because I love a good spreadsheet! Looks a bit intimidating, but it’s actually very low pressure; no sign ups, no obligations. And I certainly will be reading fanfic next year, so a participant badge at least is in the bag! 😉

Roll on 2025!

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Being fannish

Sun, 15 Dec 2024 16:52:52 GMT

I have signed up for Fannish 50 on goals_on_dw so will post 50 fannish things in the next year. They will be fanfic recs because I love reccing, and I’ll certainly be reccing on fancake, so two birds one stone. 😁

One post a week more or less seems doable…

https://goals-on-dw.dreamwidth.org/4343.html

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Recs: Bandom reread

Sun, 17 Nov 2024 21:25:55 GMT

Rec: Bandom: The Risen by Adellyna

Fandom: Bandom
Pairings/Characters: Jon/Spencer, Frank/Gerard, minor Tom/Butcher, various other bandomy folks
Rating: R
Length: 22,000 words
Creator Links: Adellyna at LJ
Theme: AU, Zombies

Summary:

AU. They all work on a cruise ship. Shit starts to get bloody after a shore excursion brings something unnatural on board.

Reccer’s Notes: The people of Bandom work on a cruise ship and then… zombies. Lovely characterisations and storytelling.

Content Notes: Character death.

Fanwork links: The Risen

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Rec: Bandom: Our Comedies are not to be Laughed At by Adellyna and Maleyka

Fandom: Bandom
Pairings/Characters: Bob/Spencer, Frank/Gerard, Pete/Mikey, Pete/Patrick, Greta/Jon, William/Travis, Ryan/Keltie, Jon/Tomrad (if you squint)
Rating: NC17
Length: 30,000 words
Creator Links: Adellyna at LJ and Maleyka at LJ
Theme: AU, Film school

Summary:

AU. Bands? What bands? Everyone's in film school!

Reccer’s Notes: Just an awful lot of fun here. A well-told story with lovely characterisations and interactions. I particularly like the Spencer/Bob and Spencer & Ryan; very sweet. Enjoy some light-hearted pleasure.

Fanwork links: Our Comedies are not to be Laughed At

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Rec: Bandom: An Inexplicable Occurrence of Angels by stele3

Fandom: Bandom; MCR
Pairings/Characters: MCR, Frank/Gerard
Rating: Teen
Length: 35,000 words
Creator Links: stele3 at AO3
Theme: AU, Canon Divergence, Angels

Summary:

Wing!fic; angel!fic; yes I wrote Frank Iero as a fallen angel; WHAT OF IT I REGRET NOTHING

Reccer’s Notes: After a Frank-less MCR doesn’t work out, Gerard and Mikey get a small, tattooed angel dropped on their doorstep. Surprise! A very unusual premise and lovely writing.

Fanwork links: An Inexplicable Occurrence of Angels

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Rec: Bandom: Forever, Now series by harriet_vane

Fandom: Bandom; MCR and P!atD
Pairings/Characters: Frank Iero/Gerard Way, Ryan Ross/Brendon Urie, Spencer Smith/Jon Walker, Brian Schechter/Greta Salpeter by the end of the series.
Rating: Teen
Length: 227,100 words in the 7 work series
Creator Links: harriet_vane at AO3
Theme: AU, Kid!fic

Summary:

Kidfic! Brian rescues kid!Gerard and Mikey from life on the streets, and eventually everyone finds a family.

Reccer’s Notes: Absolutely epic. Warm, funny, exciting, with great dialogue and completely convincing characters. Growing up is hard; helps when people love you, though.

Fanwork links: Forever, Now series

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Rec: Bandom: Unholy verse by Bexless

Fandom: Bandom; MCR
Pairings/Characters: Frank Iero/Gerard Way, Ray Toro/Mikey Way, Bob Bryan/Brian Schechter
Rating: Explicit
Length: 186,764 in the series
Creator Links: Bexless at AO3
Theme: AU, Religion, Demons, abuse references

Summary:

“He thinks I have stigmata,” Frank said, because what the fucking hell, it couldn’t get any worse. He might as well just lay it out.

“Oh, well,” said Brian into his hands. “Of course.”

Reccer’s Notes: A totally unique fic. The storytelling is compelling from start to finish. Gerard as a priest, Frank suffering from stigmata and the supernatural challenges they face are so well written. The continued series after the first fic I have been all things unholy is an incredibly satisfying read.

Fanwork links: Unholyverse series

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Recs: Smallville reread

Sun, 17 Nov 2024 17:28:35 GMT

Rec: Smallville: Aphrodisia by Lenore

Fandom: Smallville
Pairings/Characters: Clark/Lex
Rating: Explicit
Length: 6,186 words
Creator Links: Lenore at AO3
Theme: Sex pollen

Summary:

Clark can’t eat saffron.

Reccer’s Notes: Short and spicy (see what I did there). Clark’s alien physiology acts up after he eats saffron. Lex through Clark’s eyes is very sexy, and they stay nicely in character.

Fanwork links: Aphrodisia

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Rec: Smallville: Mercy by Koi

Fandom: Smallville
Pairings/Characters: Clark/Lex
Rating: Explicit
Length: 26,546 words
Creator Links: None
Theme: Dark

Summary:

What is truth?

Reccer’s Notes: This is a dark fic where Lionel Luther persuades Lex that Clark is an alien threat and that justifies them capturing, torturing and using Clark. This fic is through Lex’s eyes and his tormented point of view is incredibly compelling.

Fanwork links: Mercy

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Recs: Inception rereads

Sun, 17 Nov 2024 15:37:05 GMT

Rec: Inception: We can do this until we pass out by delires

Fandom: Inception
Pairings/Characters: Arthur/Eames
Rating: Explicit
Length: 28,478 words (series 49,299)
Creator Links: Delires at AO3
Theme: AU, Class issues

Summary:
Disturbing London, baby, we about to branch out. (The one where Eames is a chav)

Reccer’s Notes: An AU where canonical Arthur and Dom meet chav!Eames in London pre-canon. Arthur has a one night stand with Eames, which against his better judgement develops into something else. This is a wonderful fic, sexy, funny, clever, and while changing a few fundamentals still keeps them in character and the plot leading up to inception perfectly believable. The Arthur/Eames fandom burned hot but short, but during that time there were great authors in the fandom and some brilliant fics. This is one of them.

Fanwork links: We can do this until we pass out (The Chav!Verse)

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Rec: Inception: Simple Maths by foxxcub

Fandom: Inception
Pairings/Characters: Arthur/Eames
Rating: Explicit
Length: 45,684 words
Creator Links: Foxxcub at AO3
Theme: AU, High school AU, fake dating

Summary:
“So," Eames says slowly, leaning back against the school wall as he idly taps his cigarette. "We've got a problem here."

or, The Fake Boyfriend High School AU

Reccer’s Notes: The clash between Eames and Arthur’s personalities is one of the reasons why this fandom worked so well, and therefore the High School AU is perfect for this fandom because of the varied cliques in High School. The staple in this fandom of Arthur’s reluctance is delightfully done here.

Fanwork links: Simple Math

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Rec: Inception: Pants on Fire by Helenish

Fandom:I Inception
Pairings/Characters: Arthur/Eames
Rating: Explicit
Length: 15,169 words
Creator Links: Helenish at AO3
Theme: Amnesia, trope inversion

Summary:
“Ah," Yusuf says, lifting a reproving hand, "are we calling less than 24 hours of memory loss amnesia now?"

Reccer’s Notes: An absolute classic in this fandom. Arthur experiences memory loss coming out of a dream and forgets the past few years. He has to piece together his life, and some of his conclusions are right, and some… are not. To say too much would be spoilery, but I cannot recommend this highly enough.

Fanwork links: Pants on Fire

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Rec: Inception: I bet Nureyev never had to deal with this shit by cobweb_diamond

Fandom: Inception
Pairings/Characters: Arthur/Eames
Rating: Teen
Length: 21,409 words
Creator Links: cobweb_diamond at AO3
Theme: AU, ballet

Summary:
Modern-day AU. Arthur is a ballet dancer recovering from a serious injury, and is lucky enough to land the role of Oberon in Dom Cobb's reimagining of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Reccer’s Notes: A lovely AU with Arthur, Eames and Mal are dancers in Dom’s ballet production. Their developing relationship is a delight.

Fanwork links: I bet Nureyev never had to deal with this shit.

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Rec: Inception: Towards Zero by Mirabella

Fandom: Inception
Pairings/Characters: Arthur/Eames
Rating: NC17
Length: 10,000-15,000 words
Creator Links: Mirabella fic at dreamwidth
Theme: First meet, first time

Summary:
Five levels down, and five to dig yourself back out. Arthur met Eames' projection long before he met Eames.

Reccer’s Notes: Arthur meets Eames in stages. The A/E fic I sought out to reread coming back to fandom after 10 years. An all-time favorite.

Fanwork links: Towards Zero

***

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Rec: DCU/Batman: Little Bird by Icannotthinkofapenname

Thu, 14 Nov 2024 21:13:17 GMT

Fandom: DCU/Batman
Pairings/Characters: Dick Grayson & Slade Wilson, Dick Grayson & Batman members
Rating: Teen
Length: 25,206 words
Creator Links: Icannotthinkofapenname at AO3
Theme: Magic, De-aging

Summary:
Slade finds a young, frightened, amnesiac five-year old Dick Grayson, and decides it's time to be a father again.

. . .

Little Dick does not have amnesia...but it feels kinda late to admit that now...

. . .

Meanwhile, the rest of the Batfam wanna know where their big brother is?!

Reccer’s Notes: An extremely fun fic, where everyone loves Dick Grayson (as indeed they should). This fic is lighthearted and mostly free of the angst and violence that is in the majority of Slade fics, which makes a nice change. This one should make you smile; I very much enjoy both Slade and the Batbros’ interactions with mini-Dick.

Fanwork links: Little Bird

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REC:SPN: The Time Dean was Sam's Girlfriend and Jess Entered the Winchester Family Business by flesh

Wed, 13 Nov 2024 17:02:52 GMT

Fandom: Supernatural
Pairings/Characters: Sam/Dean, Sam/Jess
Rating: Teen
Length: 11,000 words
Creator Links: Flesh at AO3 (Limited fics there) and Fleshflutter at Livejournal
Theme: Magic, Bodyswap, Genderswap, preseries

Summary: The title kind of says it all. I couldn't make up my mind whether to write bodyswap or genderswitch so I wrote both. And I can't believe there aren't a million and one fics about the effects of Dean and Jess sharing a birthday!

Reccer’s Notes: Fleshflutter’s wonderful comic voice very much in evidence here, and she makes Jess an appealing, rounded character while giving us the Sam and Dean we already know so well. A delightfully lighthearted and just plain fun fic.

Fanwork links: The Time Dean was Sam's Girlfriend and Jess Entered the Winchester Family Business

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Rec: DCU/Batman: reset by Valkirin

Mon, 11 Nov 2024 18:27:36 GMT

Fandom: DCU/Batman
Pairings/Characters: Jason Todd, Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, AlfredPennyworth & Jason Todd, Jason Todd & Jason Blood
Rating: Teen
Length: 40,000 words
Creator Links: Valkirin at AO3
Theme: Magic, Amnesia

Summary: Black Mask hires Circe to keep Red Hood out of his way for a week. Circe's spell will only last a week and she doesn't think Batman will notice or care that she placed a time-limited memory spell on a minor criminal.

Fifteen-year-old Jason Todd wakes up in a future he doesn't understand.

Reccer’s Notes: Young Jason is an absolute delight here. He continually refers to Bruce as his Dad and Dick as his big brother in his head, and it tugs my heartstrings the way it clearly tugs their’s. Through Jason’s perspective we get a good look at ‘good parent Bruce Wayne’ from before Jason’s death, and how Jason needs to reconcile everything when he gets his memory back is very insightful too. A lovely read.

Fanwork links: reset

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Rec: Generation Kill: The Latent Bonding of Devil Dogs at War by Luxover

Mon, 11 Nov 2024 09:05:05 GMT

Fandom: Generation Kill
Pairings/Characters: Brad/Ray
Rating: Mature
Length: 54,000 words
Creator Links: Luxover at AO3
Theme: Soulmates

Summary: “You should be so lucky,” Brad says, and he watches Ray tighten his grip on the steering wheel before looking back out the window. “Nothing worse than getting tied to one person and having no say in who you have to fuck for the rest of your life.”

“Oh, yeah, Reporter,” Ray says, as if this is only now occurring to him, “Brad only likes prostitutes. Write that down.”

In which Brad winds up bonded to Ray, and isn't exactly happy with the situation.

Reccer’s Notes: Nate was my favourite character in Generation Kill, so mainly I read Nate/Brad. However, there were two Brad/Ray fics that are too good not to rec, and this is one.

Brad’s canonical dislike of monogamous relationships collides with the soulmate au trope and is not at all happy about it. The character voices are excellent here; completely convincing.

Content Notes: This work is locked on AO3, so you’ll need an account to access.

Fanwork links: The Latent Bonding of Devil Dogs at War

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Rec: Batman (Nolan movies): Stiffen the Sinews (Summon Up the Blood), by Whisky (whisky runner)

Sun, 10 Nov 2024 14:20:08 GMT

Fandom: Batman
Pairings/Characters: Bane (DCU)/John Blake (DCU)
Rating: Explicit
Length: 80,666 words
Creator Links: Whisky (whiskyrunner) at AO3
Theme: Complete AU, Prison

Summary: There are only men in the pit, and John's not strong enough to protect himself forever. But Bane is strong enough for both of them.

Reccer’s Notes: This is an AU where John is imprisoned in the pit with Bane, Talia and her mother. A rather harrowing but compelling read, with extremely convincing characterisation of all the characters. I reread this again immediately after finishing because it is just excellent work. Due to the complete AU nature of the fic, you don’t need canon knowledge at all.

Content Notes: As the author says, “This is not the happiest of stories.” It contains explicit non-con, violence, abuse (including reference to child abuse), and death.

Fanwork links: Stiffen the Sinews (Summon Up the Blood)

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Rec: Star Wars: Standard Operating Procedures by galateaGalvanized

Sat, 09 Nov 2024 20:10:08 GMT

Fandom: Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Pairings/Characters: Obi-Wan Kenobi/Cody
Rating: General
Length: 7,743 words
Creator Links: galateaGalvanized at AO3
Theme: Magic

Summary: “Sir, I need you to tell me what’s wrong,” Cody says, battlefield calm, and he can’t help his relief when Obi-Wan pulls the tattered remains of his usual dignity back over his shoulders.

“Right,” Obi-Wan says. “Of course. Commander, as far as I can tell, everyone besides you on this ship has fallen truly, madly, deeply in love with me.”

Reccer’s Notes: Delightfully fun take on the old sex-pollen trope where all clones of the 212th are magically enamored of General Kenobi. Except Cody - why could that be, I wonder?!

Fanwork links: Standard Operating Procedures

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Rec: due South: About a Dog by Speranza

Sat, 09 Nov 2024 10:23:19 GMT

Fandom: due South
Pairings/Characters: Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski , Diefenbaker
Rating: Explicit
Length: 20,414 words
Creator Links: Speranza at AO3
Theme: Magic, Animal transformation

Summary: Dief made a face, his nose crinkling in almost comic distaste. "Terrible. Human. Body," Dief insisted, signing the words decisively. "No coat, and two legs put you off-balance, never mind how you're forced to expose your—"

Fraser felt his eyebrows shoot into his hairline.

"—to everyone, which is really not smart, if you ask me," Dief concluded.

Reccer’s Notes: Dief is turned into a human by a witch on a case. He has to learn to use opposable thumbs, but arguably Fraser learns something more important…

Speranza’s works are classics in this fandom, and her grasp of the characters’ voices, innovative plots and excellent storytelling will show you why. This has lovely trope inversion - as unlike most animal transformation fics it’s an animal character to a human not the other way around - and is more than twenty years old. A real classic, indeed, but absolutely worth a re-read…

Fanwork links: About a Dog

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