October recs

Kicking these out the door so that people can avoid/recover from their families over Thanksgiving with some good reads if they so desire!

Tiptoe Through Our Shiny City by @dsudis (Generation Kill, Nate/Brad)

“If you don’t let me come to Boston because the kids will think I’m your boyfriend then the kids who think I’m your boyfriend have already won.”

I wrapped up my recent GK binge by catching up on Dira’s work (from like 6 years ago, shut up I know I’m slow), and this is a great fake-dating piece in which Nate adopts a study group of kids fellow students who are all convinced he’s secretly dating Brad. Just the right mix of funny shenanigans and oh-god-right-in-the-feels.

On the Island of Misfit Toys by @librationpoint (GenKill/SGA, Nate/Brad)

Being a story in which Nate attends grad school at Georgetown instead of Harvard, beginning a chain of events in which gets him recruited by Elizabeth Weir for a top secret, hush-hush program in another galaxy. Features social scientists, the once and future queen of life after death, interstellar trade deals, and the genetic benefits of being an inbred hick. Also, Nate eventually gets some.

As a devotee of @primarybufferpanel’s Rock Happy ‘verse, I’m always excited to see this particular crossover! This one’s got a great setup, a smart and wry Nate voice, and puts some minor SG-1 characters to good use.

Inbox by audreycritter (DCU, gen)

When Jason Todd died, Bruce Wayne had a hard time letting go or dealing with any reminders of his son.

When Jason Todd came back, what he needed to know was how much he had mattered. Fortunately, these things overlapped.

Or, the story in which Jason listens to some voicemails for a dead boy— the boy who was him.

Bring kleenex for this one, god. A great look at Jason and Bruce’s complicated and messy love and grief, and a hopeful ending.

The View From Jade by lowflyingfruit (DCU, gen)

Being transported to the past is not the sort of thing one normally expects. But this having happened, and with no easy way back, Jason’s determined to make the most of it. Though the Bat still stalks Gotham’s streets, the city’s crime is run by the mobs instead of the rogues. There’s no Joker yet.

There’s no Robin.

Maybe there shouldn’t be.

Jason is an AMAZING character to play the time travel game with, because it is 100% believable that he would immediately go “yeah, fuck the timeline” and start trying to fix things. His interactions with tiny!Dick in this are fantastic. (Two Dead Birds is another great take on this trope)

Without Question by lowflyingfruit (DCU, gen)

There is something very wrong with Dick at the moment. He’s doing everything Bruce says without a hint of protest. Tim’s going to get to the bottom of this.

Tim and Damian and their mutual worry for Dick in this is both hilarious and heart-clutch-inducing, and I love the ending. (For a more h/c take on this trope, I also liked Obedience, featuring Tim in a dire Ella Enchanted style situation, though it needed more comfort at the end.)