there will be a fish

I've had AUs on the brain (XMFC fandom is rife with them), so apparently the thing to do with that situation is to rec some of my favorite AUs. In alphabetical order by fandom:

1. The Art of Running & Fearless on My Breath (The Fast & The Furious, Brian/Dom)
Because what the world really needed was for someone to take a massively testosterone-infused fandom like this, and change one of the main characters into a woman. That's right, people -- this is Brian genderswap (of the always-been-a-girl variety), and it's really good. Brian is totally crazy in the exact same way, but then also crazy in some other new and fun ways, but it's all excellent. I think what I love best about this is that the author preserves their friendship and mutual respect from the movies; Dom doesn't treat Brian like a girl, he treats Brian like a person. IDK, it's genderswap fic! They drive really fast cars while being attractive! It's great! The sequel (Fearless on My Breath) then takes on the second movie, and it's kind of better this way.

2. Sixteen Days In September (Generation Kill, Brad/Nate)
This is an amazing story. Fair warning: it's a really intense war story, so there's violence of many kinds and very heavy subject matter. That said, don't be scared off! I can't imagine there's someone out there who hasn't read this yet, since it was recced to high heaven, but it's one of those stories that deserves every scrap of praise it gets. This is a point-of-departure AU: instead of joining the Marines, Nate joins the Peace Corps, and is sent to East Timor...and then a civil war starts up, and Nate, of course, does whatever he can to look out for people and do the right thing, but his pragmatic idealism takes a real beating from the war. A lot of the rest of the ensemble show up (as Marines still; actually, RL Nate went to East Timor as part of the peacekeeping force when he was a Marine), and everyone is just perfectly characterized. The Brad/Nate is a delicious slow burn that I love to pieces. Seriously, I cannot recommend this highly enough.

3. Play It Again, Jeeves (Jeeves & Wooster, gen-ish Bertie/Jeeves)
And now for a 180-degree tonal shift! The last was epic and very serious; this is short and completely ridiculous. The author did it on a request for "cracky retelling of Casablanca with Jeeves and Bertie." It's a very brief little piece (set in the last scene of the movie, so DON'T READ IT if you haven't seen the film, if you care about spoilers), but it makes me just die with laughter. Imagine recasting Rick with Bertie and Captain Renault with Jeeves, and then shifting the tone of the whole thing way into the Wodehouse range of things, and there you are. And by "there" I mean "laughing your ass off." Hee.

4. Next of Kin (The Losers, gen-ish)
This author writes the best damn Jensen in The Losers fandom, hands-down. If you like Jensen -- and who doesn't? -- you should read everything else she's ever written, basically. Anyway, this AU is also a point-change: Jensen never joins the Losers...and then Max gets his hands on his niece and sister and blackmails Jensen into working for him as his pet hacker. So Jensen is left to do an impossible task with his family's life on the line, and he has no backup. And then the Losers hear about Max's computer expert and decide a little bad guy kidnapping is in order, not realizing that Jensen's about as not-bad as you can get.... ♥ I've re-read this many many times, and it continues to delight me.

5. Apotheosis (Sherlock, gen-ish John/Sherlock)
AWESOME AU IS AWESOME. This is an inversion of "The Empty House" (the ACD short story wherein Holmes was revived after supposedly dying at Reichenbach Falls) setup -- after the confrontation with Moriarty at the pool, instead of Sherlock going after Moriarty alone for three years, John does. Long, plotty, full of pining, and lots of badass John! Truly excellent, and really creative in certain ways that I refuse to spoil for you.

Anyway, that's it. Enjoy!

(This is still not my Dear Yuletide Author letter, like it should be. Oops? /Rick Perry)

Oh my god, you guys. I am so fucking bored right now. And antsy. Like, really antsy. Like, want to go swing dancing or run around the block or something, that kind of antsy. Only I can't do those things, because it is 11pm. What the hell. So instead, I'm going through some old files and finding all the half-finished memes I have hanging around. (There may be more of these coming. I am BORED, and I slept for 12 hours because work has been deathly slow and I have no responsibilities, because I am a poor excuse for an adult human being. Anyway.)

And as always -- Katie, you know me too well. Let the other kids play first. ;)

Ship meme: (taken from here)

Pick 10 of your ships and write down a quote for each of them. Have your flist guess the ships without using Google/IMDB.

( quotes beneath the cut )




( ETA: guessed answers )

Have I mentioned I love zombies? I do. I particularly love zombie alterations to stories I already know and love. I'm reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies right now and having a very good time! I'm thinking about requesting P&P&Z for Yuletide, only with the characters from Sense and Sensibility instead, because I think Marianne Dashwood dealing with zombies would be hilarious. (Also on the Yuletide list: Fringe fic set in the noir!AU episode universe :D)

Along the same lines, this Leverage fanwork website is so much fun. It's meant to be co-read with an apocalyptothon fic, Survival By Eliot; the website is basically the website Hardison would design for the Leverage gang's zombie-fighting endeavors in the case of a zombie apocalypse, and the fic is a narrative counterpart. Hardison's footnotes are HILARIOUS, and make sure to read the alt text for the links, too. SO GOOD. Creative fanwork, con artists, AND zombies, hooray!

When I start reading things like this, I inevitably start thinking of other fandoms + zombies, usually starting with the most recent.

( cut for lengthy speculation on Hikaru no Go, The Mentalist, Generation Kill, Criminal Minds, Life, Castle, Lord Peter, Burn Notice, Sherlock Holmes, Jeeves & Wooster, and The Middleman -- all WITH ZOMBIES! )

( ETA: Band of Brothers and 30 Rock )

Come tell me your own thoughts re: the above or your own favorite "X Fandom – WITH ZOMBIES!" scenarios in the comments. I would most sincerely like to hear them!

In conclusion: ZOMBIES.

1. Jeeves & Wooster recs: Mr. Wooster and the Restorative Preparation is possibly my favorite thing I've read in the fandom so far. (Okay, or maybe this. Or this. Or – ANYWAY.) Set pre-canon, it's written in a lovely Jeeves-POV and tells the story of just how Jeeves came to work for one Bertram Wooster. Because you just know that Jeeves wouldn't leave something like his employment up to chance, would he? It's clever and touching and brilliantly Jeevesian, and I keep re-reading it. ♥

1a. The author of the above story, innocentsmith, also has a great essay on Jeeves characterization, Gentleman's Gentlemanly Behavior. It makes me want to just point and go "Yes, THIS."

2. Moving on to Castle, the Ryan Report (aka that thing on their website where the writers do an in-character blog from Ryan's POV) for 2.21 "Den of Thieves" is SO CUTE. SO PARTNERY. SO AWESOME. If you ship Ryan/Esposito, it's golden; if you prefer the platonic interpretation, it's also golden. I love them so much, you guys. *draws hearts*

3. I have a new favorite proverb: Se non è vero, è ben trovato. It's Italian for "If it's not true, it's a good story." Isn't that lovely? (Proverb acquisition thanks to – who else – Stephen Fry on QI.)

4. BEST. GRAFITTI. EVER. One more reason to love Chicago! ♥

5. A Gadget Too Far: interesting essay on the judicious use of technology in stories. It focuses on sci-fi in novels/short prose, but the ideas are easily applicable elsewhere.

If I were trying to start reading Dorothy Parker, where might all you kind flist people recommend I start?

*solicits advice* :D?

ETA: For some reason, it REALLY ANNOYS ME that there is not one giant collection of the Jeeves & Wooster book canon out there that I can buy. Apparently I must buy all 35 short stories and 11 novels piecemeal, or in overlapping handfuls. *grumps* I am one unhappy compulsive completionist right now.

So, I've been reading P.G. Wodehouse, and I'm naturally also working my way through the old fanfic repositories on the internet.

AND I HAVE FOUND THE BEST THING EVER:

The author did it on a request for "cracky retelling of Casablanca with Jeeves and Bertie." It's just a short little piece (the last scene, so DON'T READ IT if you haven't seen the film), but OMG I was dying with laughter. Imagine recasting Rick with Bertie and Captain Renault with Jeeves, and then shifting the tone of the whole thing way into the Wodehouse region of things, and there you are. And by "there" I mean, laughing your ass off. :D

Play It Again, Jeeves by triedunture

“Oh, Bertie!” Ilsa cried, throwing her arms about the Wooster frame. “I can't leave you! Don't do this!” In the offing, a twin-engine was starting its propeller bit, a Nazi was bleeding all over the tarmac, and the mist was rolling in quite dramatically. I mean to say, it was all a bit thick, what?

God damn, but some days I love fandom. *beams*