the sun and the moon and the stars

The reccing habit sort of fell apart in July along with the rest of life, but I've certainly still been reading – more voraciously than ever. So here are a few more – as always, archived in the longfic tag.

when i die i’ll sacrifice (more than enough for the afterlife) (41322 words) by notcaycepollard
Fandom: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Series: Part 1 of a flame in two cupped hands

Summary: The fall is longer than Natasha expects.

It’s tears cold on her face, teeth bitten all the way through her lip and the taste of copper in her mouth; she’s falling and falling and then, bracing for impact—she wakes up.

This is a fantastic look at a possible future for Natasha. When she hits the ground on Vormir her story ends there – and starts again years earlier, with new choices. I absolutely adore this kind of story – a fresh look at canon with a character making new choices that leads to very different outcomes. The rest of the series is also great, although should IMO be read in order.

Drive It Like You Stole It: A Bodyswap (28123 words) by AggressiveWhenStartled
Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Captain America (Movies), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Series: Part 1 of The Old Codgers Greatest Hits Album

Summary: Steve had gone fully red-faced with pedantic altar-boy fury. “Did your computer forget how to Google translate?” he bellowed, sticking his head up and over. Bucky yanked him down again. “What are you even trying to say?”

Bucky tried to shake the sparkles off the grenade he had been planning on lobbing over the divider. “It sounded like Latin to me,” he said reasonably, pursing his lips and frowning at the explosive. It dripped a sparkle, and a puff of purple smoke curled up where it hit the concrete.

“That’s because you spent Sunday school flirting with Sarah Cunningham,” Steve accused, bobbing back up to throw his shield and ducking back down to dodge a shining ball of blue light. “You wouldn’t know Latin if it came up and kissed you on your ugly mug.”

“I’d sure know it if Sarah Cunningham did, though.” Bucky grinned, struck by the memory. “That gal really knew what she was doing.”

This story makes me hoot with laughter every time I read it, and the follow-up in the series is even better, IMO. The title absolutely gives away the story, but the plot isn't the point: the prose is hilarious, the banter is sharp, and the running commentary in Peter Parker's head is lifegiving.

Any Instrument (131102 words) by dicta_contrion
Fandom: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling

Summary: Draco Malfoy wouldn't go back to England for anything less than an exceptional case. Being asked to figure out why Harry Potter can't control his magic might be exceptional enough to qualify.

Another long-after-the-War fic, I really enjoyed this one for its awesome magical worldbuilding and deeper exploration of the magical world, as well as some realistic insights into Wizarding politics.

Another Life (61860 words) by LullabyKnell
Fandom: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)

Summary: In one moment, James T. Kirk is the acting captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise, on his way home to Earth after stopping the Narada. In the next moment, without explanation, James T. Kirk is an Academy cadet on academic probation again, barely a day before Nero will destroy Vulcan.

He dares himself to do better. And with a planet on the line and no proof but his own memories, he knows that "better" means he'll need some help.

This one is a really interesting time travel fic with some great character moments. When I first read this it was a WIP that was about 3/4 posted, and I remember thinking when I came back to the finished fic quite a while later that the climax/resolution wasn't what I was expecting. A solid read, and it's tagged as the first story in a series; I am hoping for more!

Ugh, so, I had a whole bunch of tabs open with fic to rec and then browser crash and boom. So, in the meantime, have what's at the front of my mind!

I should also mention, because I've been reading and rereading a lot in Harry Potter lately, I freely confess that I prefer a whole bunch of fanon conceits in Harry Potter to the canon we got. One of those is around Draco Malfoy's characterisation - I much prefer a fanon Draco who acts as a foil and counterbalance for Harry rather than the Draco we ultimately got. I enjoy characters who are spiky and abrasive, but not necessarily evil, and that's what fanon Draco often delivers. I quite understand people who don't prefer that, but it does mean that many (not all) of my Harry Potter recs (particularly those with a Harry/Draco slant) may not be to your tastes.

(I feel much the same way about MCU Loki, although I don't tend to read Loki-centric fic much.)

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god loves everybody, don't remind me (70381 words) by napricot
Fandom: Black Panther (2018), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Summary: N’Jadaka didn’t believe in the gods of his people. But belief was not a prerequisite of the gods’ attention, and the blood of the Panther tribe ran in N’Jadaka’s veins. Bast took hold of his soul in her mighty jaws and lifted it free of his body. She gave him a warning shake, just as she would a misbehaving kitten, and set him back. With one careful claw, she tweaked his path through time into a twisting loop. Wayward and abandoned though he was, N’Jadaka was still of her tribe. He could set things right, if given the chance.

Erik gets a do-over. Erik gets a lot of do-overs. Or: Erik Killmonger's own personal version of Groundhog Day, only with a lot more murder, dying, trips to the ancestral plane, awkward family conversations, and divine intervention.

Funny, nuanced, plotty and interesting. This is Groundhog Day fic done right, and we get to watch Killmonger struggle, twist in Bast's grip, and change. I don't have anything smart to say about it, but I love this story a lot.

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The If Sieve (36203 words) by cest_what
Fandom: Harry Potter - Rowling
Series: Part 1 of If Sieve
Summary: An If Sieve lets you see how things would have unfolded if somebody had made a different decision at a particular time.

This isn't quite Groundhog Day fic, but it plays with many of the same themes of iteration and exploration. In some ways, what I love about fic like this and Groundhog Day fic is that it's a microcosm of fandom itself, exploring all the different ways something could have gone other than the single path we got in canon. In this case, Draco is exploring all the paths of history to see if there was some way he could have been friends with Harry Potter after all. Needless to say, it goes wrong a lot.

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she does pretty well with fiends from hell (80591 words) by Hinn_Raven
Chapters: 8/14
Fandom: Batman (Comics)
Summary: Stephanie Brown is sixteen years old. She’s a vampire slayer. Things are going about as well as you might expect.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a fandom that lends itself to really good fusions, and this is one of the best. It's got strong world building, so you don't need to be familiar with both fandoms to enjoy it, and the characterisation and plotting is great; the fusion is of DC characters fused into the BtVS world, and the story allows them to shine in ways that the DCverse doesn't. Highly recommended.

Warning: WIP. I wouldn't normally rec a WIP, but each chapter is itself long, plotty, and stands as much on its own merits as any TV episode. The author updates quite regularly but even if it were abandoned it wouldn't be unsatisfying as it stands, IMO.

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Thawed Out (159341 words) by auburnnothenna, eretria
Fandom: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Series: Part 1 of Thawed Out
Summary: He's not the Asset. He's not the Winter Soldier. But neither is he Bucky Barnes. With the help of Steve, Sam and the Avengers, James takes the long, slow road to recovery. Nothing is as easy as either of them thought it would be.

Long, story-driven takes on the Winter Soldier's Life After HYDRA proliferated in fandom, and Thawed Out is one of the best. It was posted in 2014 so is obviously not compliant with later canon, but it's a great example of the genre, and a very good read.

Well, that was a hell of a thing. First, it's LONG - three hours and one minute, in fact, and boy did it feel like it. It's the end of an era, and I don't have intelligent or eloquent things to say about it. Suffice to say that for better or worse the MCU changed cinema in some great ways, and whatever else I may feel, I'm thankful we've had it.

( high level spoilery, natch; no major plot details. mixed feelings; avoid if all you want is unmitigated squee )

That's basically it for now; I'm happy to talk details in the comments if you've seen it.

So I'm actually kind of nervous about Infinity War. I missed Black Panther at the cinema (the first MCU movie that's happened with; possibly reflective of my general disengagement at present) and now I'm going to have to go into IW absent the knowledge of Black Panther, which sucks.

But you know, I'm just not ready for this? I'm not ready for some/all of my faves to die. I'm angry that the MCU PTB seem to have pivoted from where they were going with the really good years of MCU. I'm frustrated that they seem to be into making people be stupid in order to move the plot along (see: the entirety of the total clusterfuck otherwise known as Civil War).

Maybe fandom has spoiled me. With a franchise like MCU we get an instalment or two every year and in between we iterate and polish and perfect, and the examinations of character and theme are so much more nuanced, as a result, than anything the studios could put out. Maybe it's not fair to compare one studio to the finest crowdsourced storytelling that mutual brainpower and fannnish love can buy.

Just... argh. I want my big dumb fun fandom back. I miss being excited and in love instead of wary and Possibly Heartbroken.