Fandom: SUITS
Pairing: Mike/Harvey
Length: ~4300
Author on LJ: who knows?
Author Website: suitsmeme

Why this must be read: The prompt for this fill wanted something concerning a morning after between Mike and Harvey. Mike knows Harvey's a womanizer. Harvey actually wanted more. The fill for this prompt goes above and beyond the original prompt, and has a very poetic quality to it as well.



Mike can't sleep.

Harvey sleeps easily beside him, breathing slow and even. Harvey's laying on his back, limbs akimbo, head tilted to the side, away from Mike; yet his body has gravitated a little more to the center of the bed with each passing hour, taking up more than his fair share of room.

But then, it is his bed.

Mike doesn't belong here. He suspects that's part of what's keeping him awake; the knowledge weighs too heavily in his mind. He's tense, despite the spine-tingling orgasm of just a few hours ago, and achingly aware of Harvey beside him. Harvey's slow crawl into the center of the bed has kept Mike shifting ever closer to the margins.

He wouldn't mind just settling himself against Harvey's side, but - he's dead certain that Harvey Specter doesn't cuddle. He feels precariously close to the edge of the bed, and ridiculous for it. Staying in bed has been a careful balancing act, in this last hour. Mike lets out a shaky, silent laugh, and scrubs a hand down his face. He's going to fall out of the bed. It's almost funny.

He feels a little like crying, actually.

You can't get much clearer than this, this slow inexorable push: even in his sleep, Harvey's making it crystal clear that Mike isn't actually welcome here. Harvey, Mike knows, doesn't do serious. Harvey does one night stands.

This was just a fuck.



And We'll Pretend

Fandom: Fairy Tales: Cinderella
Pairing/Characters: Ash/OC, OCs
Length: 2K words
Author Website: at AO3

Why this must be read: Cinderella re-written as a man is not new, but this has a nice twist to it. Ash tries to make it to the Princess' Ball, despite his step-family's best efforts. Enjoy.

Ash the Stablehand

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Fandom: Fairy Tales: Rapunzel
Pairing/Characters: Rapunzel/OC; Rapunzel's parents, Mother Gothel
Length: 2K words
Author Website: at AO3

Why this must be read: What if Rapunzel wasn't the only child held prisoner by the enchantress?

The tale follows the original--the pregnant wife craving the rampion that tempts her from the house next door, a loving husband willing to do what it takes to save his wife and unborn child, the price of that child in exchange for the succor provided by Mother Gothel's garden.

But there's a difference. On the grounds that house the garden there's a tower, and a young girl in it who looks at Rapunzel playing and wonders who she is. Soon, despite Gothel's best efforts, she will find out. Enjoy.

Rapunzel Reimagined

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Fandom: Fairy Tales: Beauty and the Beast
Characters: The Beast, OCs
Length: 5K words
Author Website: at AO3

Why this must be read: It's a terrific story that focuses on what it's like to be in the Beast's castle while waiting for Miss Right to show up. And it's told from an unusual point of view: Emma, one of the servants.

In the Disney version, the servants are transformed into animated objects who are all adorable. In the literary fairy tale, there are invisible servants who tend to the practical running of the castle. But who are they, really?

Alas, in this story they are collateral damage; real people who were caught up in the curse and remain under strict regulations. They are invisible, even to themselves. They don't age but can feel pain. And they have outlived all of their loved ones who were outside the castle when the curse happened.

Through Emma we learn the back story of the curse itself and what's happened in the ninety-four years since. But we start in the present; where the Beast is currently entertaining a real princess who's pretty and pouting and an all-around pain in the ass. It doesn't look hopeful that Princess Vivian is going to be "the one". Enjoy

Invisible

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With this post, I bid the wheel of the venerable Crack Van good-bye, but I hope future users of the community's resources will find my recs of interest. I've driven many times in many fandoms and always enjoyed sharing the stories and vids with fellow fans. Happy reading! And you're welcome to stop by my LJ or DW some time if you want more recs. I never lock rec posts. Hope to see you around some time...

Fandom: HOCKEY RPF
Pairing: Patrick Kane/Jonathan Toews
Length: 35,603 words
Author on LJ: Inactive; mockturtletale
Author Website: Author page on AO3/Author page on AO3
Why this must be read
This is age regression kidfic that leads to some realizations all around (no underage stuff while Pat is little, because gross!).

How to become a man

Fandom: BLAKE'S 7
Pairing: Blake/Avon, Avon-Jenna, ensemble.
Length: 26,692 in five chapters
Author on LJ: corngold
Author Website: on AO3
Why this must be read: I think it's fair to say that the fic-writing part of B7 fandom, though never dead, has gone through something of a renaissance in the past year. It's still quiet, but new fic is being written and at a goodly pace. We also have a kink meme (something only popular from 2007 onwards) and some new shared gags (Jewish!Travis springs to mind, as does Avon and Jaguars). I've got three more recs from 2013 for you, and one from 2014. We're back, baby.

Bodyswap is another trope that is practically canon thanks to (astonishingly) the same episode that gave us canon!'aliens made them do it'. It's also one of my favourite tropes, just generally. In this fic Avon and Jenna are swapped with each other and (rather than endure sympathy from their crewmates) decide to pretend to be each other until they can fix it or they are found out.

I really like this fic for its dedication to making use of its ensemble cast and for bothering with a good, interesting, universe-expanding B7-style plot, as well as for
the warmth, respect and love with which it depicts Blake, who is my not so secret favourite. But I usually use this space for some meta about why the fic is clever, so I also want to flag up the fact that it's an interesting choice a) not to swap the 'love interests' with each other and b) to specifically choose to swap Avon and Jenna, who are quite similar characters with quite similar concerns. The main differences are (arguably) that Avon pretends to be less moral than he is and that he strongly dislikes Blake, and Jenna wants to be more moral than she used to be and is willing to admit she likes Blake a lot. They're sort of on opposite sides (Jenna vocally supports Blake, Avon openly does not), but Corngold shows that they respect each other too. So, it's interesting to compare and contrast the two of them as they play each other. It's also very funny, like a good bodyswap or episode of Blake's 7 should be :D

( Excerpt )

Link: Nexus