[WOW, I thought I’d never get this done. Actually, I’ll be doing some tweaking in the coming days, but the text is finished and the HTML tables work (more or less), so...]

Greetings, Programs! A User’s Guide to TRON

Introduction

What is TRON? As of the summer of 2011, it is a multimedia franchise based on the idea that there is another plane of existence hidden inside computers: “the Electronic World” or “the Grid,” a tangible, luminous digital realm in which sentient Programs live as autonomous beings, subject to the commands of the human Users who create them and give them purpose. It’s a premise that lends itself to philosophizing: What is life? Where do we draw the line between virtual and actual, simulation and reality? What constitutes identity? How much can someone change before becoming someone — or something — else? How far should we go in the pursuit of our desires? Can perfection exist, and would we recognize it?

Or, if that’s too heavy: TRON is a cult SF classic turned pop culture touchstone that showcases —

( The Pretty )

and

( The Shiny )

And there’s this guy.

( A World Inside the Computer Where Man Has Never Been … The Grid. A Digital Frontier )

Fandom: HARRY POTTER
Pairing: Walburga Black/Minerva McGonagall
Length: ~3,400
Author on LJ: chantefable
Author Website: None that I know of
Why this must be read:
My previous rec was thoroughly Gryffindor in spirit, and this is the Slytherin contrast to that, a manifesto of love and revulsion from a pureblood's heart. Darkness suffuses Walburga Black's soul, a sense of pessimism and magical violence that makes her both magnificent and intransigent, unable to make choices she feels are false or pandering. It dictates her outlook on life, her attitude toward fate, her desire, her disdain. All faith, all softness is doomed to failure. This is a first-person POV, and the voice is opulent, scornful, consuming, the voice of a woman who believes that life is pitiless, that goodness is weak, that there are monsters on both sides of the divide, that destruction is truth, and that love accords no one special rights. The voice is rational one moment, feverish the next, hot then cold, and it's easy to see how someone so passionate yet already so bitter could end up as the shrieking portrait familiar to readers.

It took me a couple of paragraphs to immerse myself in the rhythms of chantefable's prose, because I wasn't expecting such a lyrical and epigrammatic style. The language is highly colored and almost flamboyant, with a cool, fierce undercurrent. Minerva here is glimpsed secondhand, at a distance, caught in fragments of poetry, of rejections addressed to her Gryffindor self-deceit. There are flashes of sensuality, too, of yearning that almost resembles a change of heart before turning to rend its own delusional impulses. Mostly Walburga cries out in isolation, trapped inside an unshakeable, aristocratic vision of a corrupt universe. She is her own song of despair. If this were a sermon, she would rage against a fallen world. If it were an opera, Walburga would be played by Maria Callas and her passion for Minerva would bring down the house. It's a bleak and mesmerizing and darkly beautiful little fic, with a unique take on the way even the proudest of dark wizards can be victims of their own merciless beliefs.

~~#~~
( How it begins )

Dark and Fearsome

Fandom: RPF: THE X-FILES/THE X-FILES
Characters: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Fox Mulder, Dana Scully
Length: It's in the novel annex at Gossamer.
Author on LJ: Not that I am aware of. If you know differently, let me know.
Author Website: Again, none that I am aware of, but please correct me if I'm wrong.
Why this must be read: This crossover was written and posted back in September, 1998, back when RPF didn't exist in this fandom, at least not to my knowledge. It's a classic body-swap story with a twist. David and Gillian are flying to Los Angeles to attend the the 1997 Golden Globe Awards at the same time their characters, Mulder and Scully, who are also Real People, but in an Alternate Dimension, are flying to a conference. They swap bodies! With the characters they play! While they are on the planes! David and Gillian get new insights into their characters! Scully and Mulder get to solve the X-File! Yes, it's total crack, but it's really, really cute. I could hardly wait for crossover day to rec this.

Best Performance By

Fandom: STARGATE SG1/THE MUMMY
Pairing: none
Length: 2,200 words
Author on LJ: jedibuttercup
Author Website: Masterlist on DW
Why this must be read:

Summary: Evie could not be certain, but it sounded a great deal like the Ancient Egyptian equivalent of "Oh, no, not again," which struck her as a rather bizarre thing for a newly awakened mummy to say.

At times hilarious and very touching, this crossover touches the heart in many ways. A cross that may raise a few eyebrows with the two fandoms involved, Jedi Buttercup actually makes it work wonderfully. It's extremely original, and that by itself, really, recommends it. This fic made me smile, tear up a bit at how much crap the universe likes to hurl at Daniel, and just chuckle at Evie's reactions. Jedi is one of the queens of Stargate crossovers, and this fic just illustrates why.

( Snippet )
The Husband of Shau'ri

Fandom: TRON
Pairing: gen
Length: 1,481 words
Author on LJ: omorka
Author Website: omorka_fics
Spoilers: character rerezzing
Why this must be read:

The author summarizes this story as Kevin Flynn tries to clean up the mess after taking control of ENCOM. Canon glosses over what exactly happened when Kevin Flynn returned to the company and presents his rise to power as a fait accompli: in one scene he’s whooping it up in the laser bay, and the next he’s disembarking from the ENCOM helicopter. This charming story fills in some of the gaps, as Kevin starts repairing the damage done by Dillinger and the MCP, and Tron and Yori witness the results.

[NOTE: The fic has been slightly jossed, since one key character had not yet been named in canon.]

“Raised Up" on AO3.

Fandom: TRON/THE BIG LEBOWSKI
Pairing: gen, refs to canon pairings
Length:
Author on LJ: coyotegoth
Author Website: n/a
Why this must be read:

The author came up with a simple, brilliant premise — while in the laser bay, Kevin Flynn runs into Jeff Lebowski, making a special delivery — and ran with it, to hysterical result.

( “Hey, how do you spell 'flotilla'?” the Dude asked. )

Amazingly, the story gets funnier as it goes along, with the Dude struggling to maintain his mellowness and his User abilities manifesting in unusual (but probably inevitable) ways.

“The Ballad of El Userino”

Fandom: STAR TREK: REBOOT/TWILIGHT
Pairing: Kirk/Spock, Sulu/Chekov, others
Length: 75k
Author on LJ: rainbowstrlght
Author Website: At AO3
Why this must be read:

Yes, that says Twilight. This story is, in fact, a Twilight fusion, with aliens and crop circles instead of vampires. But the thing is, the story uses the basic framework of Twilight (the book, not the series) while fixing some of that book's more egregious...issues.

For one thing, there's plot all the way through, and it's an engaging plot. It does still have the framework of Twilight, but you won't be able to guess all the turns of the story just from knowing what happens in Twilight. For another thing, Spock is not a stalker. He actually has plot-related reasons for ending up in the same places as Jim.

And you know...Twilight does have its issues, but it also has its charm, and a sense of wonder at the unveiling of a whole new world. Edward and Bella had their problems, separately and together, but the romantic archetype of two utterly different people thinking each other fascinating and working their way to a relationship -- that's pretty timeless. rainbowstrlght deals with some of the worst issues while still keeping the charm, the wonder, and the transformative reaction of the meeting of two different personalities, which makes this fic really enjoyable for me.

Zenith

Title: When Summoning, Please Watch the Wording
Pairing: None
Length: ~4976 words
Author on LJ: ryuuzakochou
Author Website: Profile page on FF.net
Why this must be read: There simply aren't enough GO/SPN crossovers, in my opinion. This is an early one - before angels were a part of the show canon, back in the days of the Yellow-Eyed Demon (YED). A trio of amateur Satanists intent on summoning the YED are in for a bit of a surprise when their spell brings them someone else entirely. Crowley isn't one to suffer fools lightly, and brings in the big guns (namely Aziraphale) to settle the situation. Sam and Dean get their first taste of angels and demons who play by their own rules - sadly, it's not an encounter they'll remember for very long.

The story has a few small errors and it does reside at the infamous fanfiction.net, but those minor details don't negate the fact that the story is fun and engaging, and the Good Omens characters in particular shine.

( A man landed in the circle, stumbled slightly and righted himself. )

Read the story: When Summoning, Please Watch the Wording

And don't forget to feedback the author.

Fandom: due South x bandom (My Chemical Romance flavored, mostly)
Pairing: Renfield Turnbull/Mikey Way
Length: long
Author on LJ: lucifuge_5
Author Website: at AO3
Why this must be read: Because lucifuge_5 is the queen of AU's and this one lives up to its premise. Renfield Turnbull is an operative for the mysterious Agency and Mikey Way is a rock star. Through a series of misadventures they meet and try to forge a connection in spite of everything that's trying to keep them apart.

It's an awesome story filled with familiar due South and Bandom characters, plus more than a few surprises. lucifuge_5 skillfully weaves canon events together to make a suspenseful, delightful story.

( A taste... )

Remember to feedback the creators, because feedback is love.