July recs

Aug. 28th, 2022 09:53 pm
spatz: an AT-AT crashed face-down on Hoth with caption *headdesk* (SW headdesk)

In July, I got all excited about Andor and read a bunch of Rogue One fic! Just in time for the show's premiere to get pushed back. *sigh* I've also got a handful of other Star Wars fic, plus one rec each for The Walking Dead and Miss Fisher.

ROGUE ONE

save that light by @bright-elen & @misskatieleigh (gen + Cassian/Bodhi)

Cassian realized that he was different when he was four years old. He looked up at his father, his whole world up until then, and said, “Why are they going to make the factory explode, Papá?”

His father swiped to a different article. “I’ve told you before not to sneak out of bed to watch the news holos, Cassian.”

It was only when they heard the noise echo off the mountains that his father looked up. Slowly, he turned and looked at Cassian.

For the first time that Cassian could remember, Papá was afraid.

In which Cassian is Force-sensitive, and some things do and don't change. Really interesting backstory choices in the first story, and a solid fix-it in the second.

where there's a desert by @islandbetweenrivers (Bodhi/Luke)

Bodhi is eleven when the Emperor dies, and the explosions start the same day.

Luke is six when the Emperor dies and Vader takes over. He doesn’t know what that means.

Bodhi's fourteen when the moisture farm next door is bought suddenly, sight unseen, by some offworlder family.

Fascinating AU where Luke grows up on Jedha and becomes a Guardian. Low on conflict, but a lovely coming-of-age story, a rich portrait of Jedha and her culture, and a sweet romance with a dash of galactic politics.

let it be tomorrow by @andromeda3116 (Jyn/Cassian)

When Saw left her behind, an old nightmare, the man in white, took his place; 80 hours of nonstop Imperial conditioning later, and to all appearances, the angry Partisan rebel Jyn Erso is replaced by a loyal, inoffensively-sweet young woman.

Three and a half years later, leaks begin to trickle out of Coruscant, hints of high command secrets, either a spanner in the works or a deadly trap. Another eighteen months pass before the Alliance decides to pursue the leak, the potential payoff being too great not to risk it, and send their most experienced spy to find the source and turn the leak into a flood.

And five years into the worst deep-cover operation she never wanted or prepared for, Jyn thinks, fucking finally.

Somewhat dark but awesome different-meeting, with lots of spy games and distrust, Jyn's seething fury & hurt and Cassian's fractured faith colliding in a wildly different context, and a great resolution.

PREQUELS/CLONE WARS

Smuggled In by @galateagalvanized (Cody/Obi-Wan)

“There’s no need for finesse," Cody said, and he felt his men sharpen, ready. "These cages were built to hold two-pound flying rodents, not 200-pound soldiers. See what will break.”

Or, Cody and some of the 212th get captured by smugglers, and nothing is quite what it seems to be.

Delightful snack of a story in which Obi-Wan cannot help but do things in the most dramatic way possible.

Right on Time by @elwenyere (Cody/Obi-Wan)

Cody had decided to walk Obi-Wan to his shuttle stop. And if the reason for prolonging their farewell wasn’t actually that Cody had “needed some fresh air,” but that he was still clinging to the chance that today - at long last - might be the day that something finally happened between them - well. That was between him and the Force.

Or, Cody and Obi-Wan finally go for it. And go for it and go for it and go for it.

I loooved this! A funny premise (Obi-Wan keeps delaying his return to have more sex with Cody, smart man) matched with just the right balance of first-time passion and long-delayed tenderness.

Plot Twist by orphan_account (Obi-Wan/Anakin/Padme)

The supposed love triangle between Mr. Skywalker, Ms. Amidala, and Mr. Kenobi is all their students (and even their fellow teachers) can talk about. The only thing is, no one at Coruscant High School can figure out exactly which of them are together.

Extremely fluffy, cute, and fun modern AU.

OTHER

(The Walking Dead, Daryl/Jesus) The Prison Break by CanonCannon

Jesus is taken to the Sanctuary with just the clothes on his back, his bandana, and the paper clips he keeps sewn into the waistband of his pants.

It should be enough.

I cut off my interest in TWD at the point where they killed Glenn because fuck that - but apparently I make small exceptions for competence porn like this, in which Jesus rescues Daryl shortly after he's taken hostage by the Saviors. Wherein people make dubious choices while traumatized but it all turns out okay, Daryl has something nice happen for once in his life, and Negan gets murked like he fucking deserves.

(Miss Fisher, Phryne/Jack) there's something wild about you, child by laiqualaurelote

The woman in the bathroom is not human.

Jack doesn’t know exactly how he knows this. Something about her makes the air sing cut-glass clear, makes him feel like he is falling into a deep pit even though his feet are on solid ground. He has known this feeling all his life; it is what his grandmother taught him words for through her stories, why he still carries a dagger of cold iron up his sleeve. This is not the first time he has met the Folk. But he has never had one trespass on his crime scene.

Wonderfully eerie retelling of the show's opening, with Phryne as one of the fae.

spatz: baby Temeraire cozied up in a hammock (Temeraire in hammock full)

Fables of the Reconstruction by Mugatu (Walking Dead, Daryl/Jesus)

It’s more than two years after the end of the world and six months after the war with the Saviors when Daryl Dixon returns to Alexandria.

AU from juuust after I stopped watching in S6, thus avoiding Certain Bullshit. This author has an A+ Daryl POV, and uses her non-linear structure well to shift between the past slow burn character stuff and the tension of the current-time search & rescue.

Missing Pieces by flailinginlove (Naruto, Kakashi/Iruka)

Shinobi Enforcement Agency is the only bounty station (un)officially recognized by all of the Five Great Nations. It’d be the best place to bring in targets, if only there wasn’t so much paperwork involved.

When they don’t seem interested in taking out the new missing-nin in town, Kakashi wants to know why.

(Or, the one where both Kakashi and Iruka are missing-nin bounty hunters who go after the same target.)

Cheerfully fun AU heavy on the humor and competence porn.

No Reservations: Narnia by Edonohana (Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations RPF, gen)

I’m crammed into a burrow so small that my knees are up around my ears and the boom mike keeps slamming into my head, inhaling the potent scent of toffee-apple brandy and trying to drink a talking mouse under the table. But is it really the boom mike that’s making my head pound? I know for sure that my camera man doesn’t usually have two heads. I have to face facts. The mouse is winning.

I finally read this after seeing it recced approximately everywhere, and holy shit did it deserve all of those recs. If the prospect of Anthony Bourdain getting into a drinking contest with Reepicheep doesn’t immediately snag you…idk, I can’t help you. A vivid, funny love letter to both Narnia and food, accessible even without knowing Bourdain’s work.

My Love Should Be Heard and Not Seen by lurknomoar (Welcome to Night Vale, Cecil/Carlos)

Cecil Palmer is the best phone sex operator in the small company called Night Vale.  One night, a slightly tipsy and very lonely scientist dials his number, and gets far more than he bargained for - a late night conversation about advanced biochemistry, a brand new fetish for surreal horror, a surprisingly reasonable internship program, some newts, and slowly, strangely, the love of his life.

Yes, I am also amused that I read two separate awesome phone sex AUs in one month. This one is sublimely weird and funny and sweetly romantic, as is right and proper for WTNV.

Tall Grass by aeli_kindara (Supernatural, Dean/Cas)

“I think we should have a garden,” Cas says.

Dean looks up from his beer. He hasn’t had that much to drink, but Cas still has a vague look of unreality about him, a splash of living color that doesn’t fit in the bunker’s echoing stillness. Dean didn’t hear him coming. A lot of the time, Cas is so unobtrusive it feels like Dean has the bunker to himself, with Sam away.

Dean shakes his head to clear it. “A — garden?” he repeats.

Man, this was such a great read but I’m not sure how to synopsize it? There’s a lush, warm, slow burn romance, domesticity a la Winchesters, road trip casefiles featuring various awesome ladies from the show, and a haunted plant! Highly recommended.

Follow the Heartlines by fakexpearls (Captive Prince, Damen/Laurent)

Apologies, Exalted. What I meant – ”

 “What you meant is that you don’t know why I can’t remember anything since His Majesty flayed my back and had me dressed in gold paint and slave’s garb to serve him. But he was a prince then. And a king now.”

 Laurent tried to hide his flinch at the words, at his own memories. He looked away to the marble floor.

 Damianos continued: “You say that was four years ago. In that time, I seem to have aligned myself with him in country and in marriage. And no one tried to stop me.”

Look, the author had me at their note “An amnesia AU (with political intrigue)” and the story is pretty much exactly what you’d expect from that trope set (pining for someone you’re technically married to! trust issues! politics and competence porn!) but very well executed. I loved her character work for Laurent and how you can read a lot of how their marriage has been by how he keeps stumbling what isn’t there anymore. Right in the feels.

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