melannen | Longfic recs for Stellar_dust (and anybody else who wants them)

So one of the things on my sister's Christmas list was "good longfic recs, I don't care about the fandom" (although I'm not sure where she'll have the time, since she's supposed to be WRITING A THESIS. About VIKINGS.)

But anyway. Like a berk I am only writing it now. But here it is! If you want me to make a .zip I suppose I can, but most of these are already available as e-book downloads.

(Note that these are all well-known, mostly oldish stories, so if you are in the fandoms you probably know them already? But this is for people who just want longfic regardless of fandom.)

WARNING: IF YOU HAVE A KNOWN WEAKNESS FOR LONGFIC, AND YOU NEED TO DO SOMETHING OTHER THAN READ FIC SOMETIME IN THE NEXT WEEK, DO NOT CLICK THE CUTS.

Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga
1. All of the Vorkosigan books are now legally available as non-DRM free ebooks in a bunch of formats. You can download all the Vorkosigan books here, among other places.
(The first book was originally Star Trek fanfic, so this totally counts. Also there is much good Barrayar longfic, and it would be silly to rec the fic without the books when the books are also available free, and read like good longfic.)

2. Longfic Recs for the Vorkosigan Saga (on AO3)
For these recs I'm assuming you've just read canon, and therefore already know what's what.

the A Deeper Season universe by

lightgetsin and

sahiya, Miles/Gregor slash

This universe has several novel-length fics and a bunch of shorts, for a total that is approaching 400,000 words, all of them good. It's an AU branching off after Memory in which the Emperor propositions Miles, and things -- well, forward momentum just starts building. And while it *is* a slash AU that takes off right before the canon love interests are introduced, the female characters still get done right by, especially in the sequels. You can either go chronologically through the series as it's listed on AO3, or start with A Deeper Season and then go chronologically.

Aral Vorkosigan's Dog by

philomytha, gen-ish with canon ships, various warnings for really screwed-up things happening.

This is a 75,000 word recounting from Illyan's POV of what happened on the flagship in the Escobar invasion before Cordelia showed up to make it all better. That was a situation that was tailor-made for fanfic writers to run with, and Philomytha totally did it justice.

the Tides of Stars AU by

tel, gen-ish with background ships

This is 75,000 words of awesomesauce timey-wimeyness, starring a future Miles who has been thrown back into his own past, and decides that his future wasn't great shakes anyway, so he's just going to change everything. The interactions between Old!Miles, New!Miles and Mark are amazing, Miles going back and retconning all the bad stuff in his own past is brilliant, other characters get to shine, and the plots and timey-wimeyness are great.

The World That You Need by

dsudis, 45,000 words, Aral/Cordelia and Aral/Jole, polyfic

This is the one I was rec'ing earlier in which Cordelia helps her husband seduce his secretary. In the meantime, though, it's a wonderful fluffy fic of love, one of the best fics I've read for turning poly negotiation and explicit consent into kinks in their own right, has some of the best Cordelia ever written in fic, and in its spare time, creates an amazing queer underworld for the Barrayaran military.

Petya verse by

lannamichaels, AU, OMC, queer gen

Two linked AUs which focus on Piotr Vorkosigan, the AU son of Aral and his first wife, which are *much* better than that makes it sound. Petya is a brilliantly drawn character, and the perspective he manages to bring to Barrayaran politics and relationships - especially in the long period between Aral's youth and Miles' about which we know very little - is brilliant, perceptive, dry and wrenching at the same time.

3. Vorkosigan Saga fanfic, not on AO3

Project Goldfish by Jeff Melcher, gen
10,000 words-ish. In which Miles gives a dinner party, and it goes the way his dinner parties generally do.

Forward Momentum and sequels by

bracketyjack, gen-ish, canon ships

I am not sure how long this is, but it's easily as long as A Deeper Season. The author took Bujold's standard method for advancing the plot - "figure out the worst thing that could possibly happen" - and reversed it. In Forward Momentum-verse, the best possible thing happens nine times out of ten, and the story it makes is beautiful. This is a comedy of manners in the best sense, and it also has a nice large role for Fletchir Giaja and friends, which is love.

the LOPiverse by A. J. Hall, Draco/Neville, HP crossover, various others

Okay, this is not *technically* exactly Barrayar fic, except for how it is. This is A.J.Hall's epic Harry Potter universe, featuring the best ever Fanon!Draco, and the best Neville, whatsoever. They are in love, and they fight crime. This was the first HP fic I ever read and the first I ever sent feed back for, so, yeah, in a way, this universe is responsible for everything else that has followed. Anyway, as part of the universe, there is a Barrayar crossover - Time Shall Not Mend - which was also my introduction to Barrayar, and is also brilliant. You can probably read it on its own, as long as you're willing to buy that particular brand of Redeemed!Draco who is tragic and misunderstood yet brave and handsome without needing a buildup to justify it. But why would you want to? The crossover features Draco and Ekaterin traveling through time to help each other out in turn, and a future!wizarding world as it might exist on Barrayar.

Marks and Scars, Without Enchantment, and No Great Magic by E. H. Smith, HP crossovers, gen-ish

The second Barrayar fic I ever read. :D These feature Severus Snape and Mark Vorkosigan, among others, meeting each other and crossing universes, for great angst. These also cross-reference (a tiny little bit) with the A.J. Hall ones, so I feel it necessary to link them as a set.

Can't Trace Time by A. J. Hall, Torchwood crossover, Owen Harper/Bel Thorne.

Another novel-length crossover by A. J. Hall ...it is exactly as awesome as that pairing makes it sound, with the addition of Ekaterin's first husband getting exactly what he deserves while they're at it. (Also, it is a Torchhwood crossover where Jack is not involved, worth it just for the novelty.)

BBC Merlin modern-day AUs

1. All you need to know about Merlin in order to read the (scads and scads of) modern day AUs:
Merlin is a dork, and a wizard, secretly. (The wizard part. Not the dork. That part's obvious to everyone.) He's slightly rubbish in general but has a heart of gold.
Arthur is a bit of a prat and utterly spoilt by a life of privilege, and also by being annoyingly good at everything, but he has potential, at least once Merlin knocks some of the arrogance out of him.
The Great Dragon, as well as everything else in the universe, is trying to tell them they are Meant For Each Other and should stop snarking at each other and just kiss already.
Arthur's dad Uther is Rupert Giles gone ambiguously darkside. He loves Arthur but is often wrong about things.
Gaius is Uther's ex and Merlin's mentor. His main function is to be long-suffering. He has a lot to be long-suffering about.
And finally, Morgana is Arthur's foster sister. She and her friend Gwen are smokin' hot, and each of them alone is more competent and more intelligent than all the male characters put together.

Got it? Good.

Also, everything in Merlin fandom is Arthur/Merlin slash unless otherwise stated. It's just that sort of fandom.

2. Modern-day Merlin AUs on AO3:
The Student Prince by FayJay
In which Arthur is the Prince of Wales, Merlin is studying to be a wizard, and they end up as roommates at St. Andrew's College. An adorable romance story set at an old British college for maximum atmosphere, with royalty, a well-built wizarding world under modern Britain (codenamed World of Warcraft), a dragon who wants a iPod, lots of brilliant secondary characters, and one of the most amazing public coming-out scenes ever.

Defenders of the Realm by Lamardeuse
In which Arthur and Morgana are police officers, Gwen is a medieval re-enactor, there is a dragon in the Undeground, and the BNP has acquired Dark Magic. Must confess I am a sucker for the knights-as-police thing.

Radiant Under Every Sort of Light by Zarah5
In which Merlin runs away to join the circus, Arthur is a daring young man on a flying trapeze, and they somehow manage to keep sharing a trailer for months while each under the misapprehension that the other is straight. This fic is - well, the climax of the fic is a flying routine under a dark circus tent with the only lighting as magical fireworks, and if you can imagine what that feels like - that's kind of what this whole fic feels like.

Easy There by Syllic
In which they all go to Oxford and they all row for the varsity boats. This fic will teach you more than you even thought there was to know about varsity crew, and it will make you love it. Merlin/Arthur fic as boy's own sports story (except that Gwen and Morgana are still awesomer than them.)

Not In This Land by torakowalski
In which Arthur is the Prince of Wales, Merlin gets a summer job in the palace, and there are Dark Anti-Monarchist Plots afoot. Merlin/Arthur fic as modern suspense novel.

Flesh and Blood Dance by Lithilien, RPS crossover, Merlin/Anthony Stewart Head
The wizards and sorcerers of legend have survived into the modern day. And some of them get bored and decide to produced a BBC TV series that tells the story as it really was. Starring two young men who are strangely like their ancient counterparts. And whith everybody gathered together again, magic starts to wake up. Magic, and monsters, and ancient swords, and perhaps - if Merlin is very lucky - even a King who is still sleeping under Glastonbury Tor. (Look, The Great and Powerful Merlin/Anthony Stewart Head works surprisingly well, okay?)

The Drastically Redefining Protocol series by Rageprufrock
In which Arthur is the Prince of Wales, Merlin is a hapless and very, very gay intern to accidentally locks them in a closet together, there is explosive sexual chemistry, ninja rape dogs, lots of text-messaging, another really amazing public coming-out, and, eventually, a royal wedding as portrayed through the tabloid coverage. This is Arthur/Merlin slash as chicklit romance. (This is also *the* Arthur/Merlin modern-day AU. Read it even if you read none of the rest of these.)

Also, when you have run out of Merlin AUs in which Arthur is the Prince of Wales, you can go read the Young, Hot, and Royal Series on AO3, which is slash about the actualfax Prince of Wales. Because why not? And it is good. And long. And immersive. And happy-making.

3. Modern-day Merlin AUs not on AO3:
MERLIN: the Fratboy!Arthur AU, by moonythestrals
In which Arthur and Merlin get assigned to a scriptwriting project together in college English, and end up accidentally writing the gayest version of the Arthurian Legend ever. (Except, perhaps, the one they are living in.)

The Kingdom of the Blaggers by Hackthis
In which Arthur is a big Hollywood star and Merlin is his entourage. Arthur/Merlin AU done as actor RPS.

Keep Calm and Carry On by chibirhm
In which Arthur is Director of Communications for the Prime Minister, and Merlin is his long-suffering assistant. Arthur/Merlin AU done as British Politics RPS.

We're a Storm in Somebody Else's Teacup by paperclipbitch
In which there are support groups for people with freaky magical powers, which is a good thing, because somebody is trying to ruin the lives of people with freaky magical powers. Arthur/Merlin as dark urban fantasy.

No Business Like Show Business by ladyragnell
In which Arthur and Merlin are voice actors for a children's cartoon about teenage dragons. Gay teenage dragons. And they manage to go for a whole season flirting through their characters' voices without ever actually interacting in realtime.

Love in the Time Of Scholar-A by itachitachi
Merlin and Arthur are history postdocs, forced to share an office. Arthur has forgotten how to do the "social interaction" thing. There is friction. And then there is that other kind of friction. In their spare time, they revolutionize the study of the history of magic.

Not An Act, But A Habit by mellacita
Merlin is a street kid, Arthur is a rich idiot forced to do community service at the shelter, Arthur slowly becomes less of a prat, except for how he stubbornly refuses to sleep with Merlin until he's legal.

Okay. There's the entire Vorkosigan series + 25 more long fics/series. When you have finished those? Go read all the fic in the Sherlock Holmes recs post I will be writing for

lindentreeisle as soon as this one goes up. Then, go read everything Astolat has ever written. When you've done that, get back to me, and I'll do two more fandoms for you. ^_^

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

YAY! Thank you!

Since getting my Kindle I am now ALL ABOUT THE LONGFIC, especially stuff on AO3 as I can download it in MOBI. :D

Ebook readers to seem to be the thing that make people suddenly want longfic. (That, and long commutes.) I hope there is stuff here you actually like!

... DAMN YOU. LONGFIC IS LIKE A SIREN SINGING ME TO INEVITABLE SHIPWRECK. I DON'T EVEN HAVE TO LIKE THE FANDOM TO BE COMPELLED. DAMMIT. I WAS HOPING TO WRITE MY OWN STUFF TOMORROW AND NOW I WILL BE UP ALL NIGHT READING THESE INSTEAD SOBBBBB.

YOU THINK YOU HAVE IT BAD, I'M SITTING HERE DOING THE SAME THING AND I'VE ALREADY READ THEM ALL. :/

Sorry? Just, um, try closing the tabs and pretending it's not here? :D

iiiit's noooot wooorkiiiiiiing D: /reopens them all immediately, I WASN'T FINISHED WITH YOU YET

. . . Well, there goes my free time! I didn't really have a ton to start out with, but oh well :-P

...right, that's it, I suppose I need to add a warning above the cut. :P

...Oh dear. Weakness for longfic, that's me. I AM GOING TO PRETEND THIS POST DOESN'T EXIST.

Also, you just reminded me that I never finished my readthrough of the Vorkosigan Saga. NO. NO. DOESN'T EXIST.

BE STRONG.

Oh! *besotted cartoon handclasp*

Hrm, hrm, I'm tempted to copy your idea. I have some good ones bookmarked that I meant to rec anyway.

...I may have to pretend such posts don't exist, but I support the concept!

For longfic, I would also rec everything

synecdochic's ever written. (Mostly SG-1, all long and plotty and excellent.) Her website is Synecdochic's fic. Her stand-alone stuff is sometimes shorter, but her series (halfway down the page) are pretty much all series of longfics. I particularly recommend Broken Wings and the Cammieverse

Yeah, there are quite a few authors I could just do a blanket rec on! And

synechdochic is one of them. I figured I'd start with one at a time, though.

I never knew there was that much Vorkosigan longfic! Count me schooled. XD

Quite a lot of that is within the last year or so, actually, so if you haven't been watching the comms/tags recently you wouldn't know! That fandom's been becoming ever more brilliant, and active, of late.

Thanks! But psst Memory is not as far as I know downloadable. I just got it from the library (I had to get it via ILL!) and just finished it two nights ago, actually!

...huh. I didn't even notice! It claimed they had it all, and I had forgotten that Memory isn't in any of the omnibus editions. I'm sure it was just an oversight, so they won't mind if we find a copy anyway. :P

And one of the many good things about Bujold having a large Eastern European following is that you can usually find a pirate copy of the series up *somewhere*, so if anybody needs Memory to complete the set, you can currently download it in .pdf by pressing the "pobierz plik" button here: http://chomikuj.pl/makary1978/E+-+booki/Fantastyka/M+-+P/Mcmaster+Bujold*2c+Lois/Lois+McMaster+Bujold+-+11+Memory,184692976.pdf

Hee, I should add that reading both the actual books and the (so far, only very good quality) fanfic on my e-reader makes it all seem of a piece. Reading a dead-trees book in the series was odd. Like reading a zine.

Also, I have no joke here, I just like saying pobierz plik!

Yeah, afaict, Vorkosigan fic comes in three categories: 1) amazingly excellent, 2) really very good, and 3) amateur but readable translations from the Russian fandom. (And the Russian-language fandom and English-language fandom interact a lot more and a lot more visibly than in any other multi-lingual fandom I'm in, which is great.)

Or you could buy it from Baen's e-bookstore. DRM-free and in whatever format you need it to be in.

http://www.webscription.net/p-617-memory.aspx

yay, longfic! I wish it were in fandoms I know, but I suspect i will somehow survive. d-:

*goes to send you articles*

The problem with fandoms you know is that you've probably read it all already. :P Learn to just dive in to longfic with fandoms you don't know, and you'll never ever run out!

Thanks for the rec! :D I'm kind of boggling, to be honest, over being included in a list of longfic, considering how long my fic tends to be and that I don't usually finish long things. But, don't get me wrong, it's very flattering! :D

I am glad to rec you!

And the meaning of longfic has been drifting downward over the years, but Petya verse is over 100,000 words at this point, which is longfic by anybody's standards, I think...(And I am so glad every time I see more of it!)

BEST REC list ever, i'd already read the most big name ones - Drastically Redefining Protocol, Student Prince, Easy There etc. But I was thrilled because you were offering so much more!!!! Stuff that would have taken me moths to come across i have all in a neat little list. YOU ROCK, and should be awarded THE SLASH DRAGON MEDAL. If the award existed. Maybe I should start it. For furthering the cause of Merlin/Arthur. ANyway, thanks so much and i'll be exited to check you sherlock recs when I'm done with Merlin :).

Just stumbled across this post -- thanks for recommending me.

The Peaceful Vorkosiverse AU isn't quite as long as the Deeper Season AU -- about 250,000 words, including four further fragments posted last year -- but it is now on AO3 and FFN as well as LJ.

And FYI, in an essay about the Vorkosiverse, and ficcing it, and fic in general, called 'Of Criticism and Continuities' and in my collection "Of Sex and Faerie" (Humanities-Ebooks, 2010), I cited your poll of polls about self-identified orientation in fic and slash writing -- for which my belated thanks: a very interesting post.

With all bw,

Bracketyjack

Longfic recs for Stellar_dust (and anybody else who wants them)

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magegirl8 @ LJ

Forward Momentum