Le Squee!

Little update

2006-12-14T05:41:04Z

An update, to be more specific, on the theme of titles that do absolutely no justice to the fic.

Arthurian
Everything was strange; everything had changed... by Soujin Prouvaire
Gaheris/Mordred, PG13

Oh guh. I am not into the incest fic, generally, just really not, but Arthurian stuff is a bit different. And this-- this is short and achy and tangled and a little otherworldly and did I mention guh?

"--Missed you." It's rough, there's an edge to it, and suddenly Mordred's caught, before he can move, caught in a kiss and wet cold hands that smell of the sea, caught next to a body that's lean and rough and edgy as the voice that belongs to it. Gaheris has been waiting too long.

Westmark
Florian and Zara by thistlerose
Gen, PG

Reccing this partly because dude, it's Westmark fic by a complete stranger! and partly because it's lovely in its simplicity and imagery. Florian and Zara in Regia. Arguing, naturally.

...in the firelight, her hair gleamed like polished copper and, like all things divine, she was quite beyond his reach.

I was resting my eyes.

2006-08-16T02:54:51Z

Alice in Wonderland

Without The Lobsters by assimbya
Gryphon/Mock Turtle, PG

Instant winner of the Year's Most Adorable Fic to Traumatize My Inner Child.

Then, soon after they got out of school, the accident happened, and the Mock Turtle became a Mock Turtle for the first time. No one would speak to him except for the Gryphon, and then, of course, no one would speak to the Gryphon. And so the Gryphon decided that it was time for both of them to leave.

Fullmetal Alchemist

Synthemata by Tiamat's Child
Gen, PG13; manga spoilers

Ran Fan recovers in Knox's house. Understated and funny and touching and spot-on in character.

"You didn’t hurt me."

"Heh," he said, gathering her hair and starting again, "I suppose I didn’t, hmm? Tough girl like you."

"I have calluses on my hands too," she said, and was grateful when he just hummed.

Les Misérables

Sonnet, When the Words Flow by most_noble
Prouvaire/Enjolras, PG

Jehan is so adorable when he's crushing madly.

And the metaphors and couplets and words, beautiful, true, brilliant words, soared by, and Jean was unable to catch them, as he had no ink in his pen to pin them against the paper with.

But the words came back, as surely as Enjolras entered the café, day after day.

Zétalbé, Come Reign in My Heart by Elyse
Gen, G

Conspiracy in the Rue Petit Picpus! A retelling of an amusing incident buried amid the rampant digressions of canon.

The sixteen-year-olds, for once, were silent during lessons, and even the youngest children did not fidget during morning prayers. The chapel mothers were all highly suspicious of such perfect behavior, and they all applied, in half-heard whispers, to the prioress, Mère Innocente, for an explanation. Mère Innocente only told several of her beads, and then murmured, "Praise be to God."

Westmark

Winter by Soujin Prouvaire
Gen, PG

A beautiful, bittersweet portrait of little!Zara and her father.

When she was lots smaller, but still as sharp as she is now, she used to go snow-walking with her father. He took her rain-walking, too, but they never went flower-walking, and maybe that's why she knows snow and rain better than flowers.

Footstep Traps by Tiamat's Child
Gen, PG13

Inside Justin's twisty little mind. It's not a happy place.

Everything makes him angry, these days. He can barely stand upright for it, for the ringing of fury in his head, so bright and clear and cold and overpowering like a grand town bell when you stand right next to it, the force of the sound smashing into you and sending you vibrating to its tune, its tone, its rhythm, not your own.

Crossovers

Nights of endless conversations by Fahye
Sandman and Firefly, gen with het bits

Serenity entertains visitors. Cannot excerpt, as all of it is too perfect where it is. Go read.

Originals

Untitled by afrai
It is short, and sweet, and wise, and heartwarming, and has a wombat in. I don't know what more I can say.

The wombat peered over God's cloud-frilled arm at the blue world beneath them, and made a doubtful wombat noise. "It's a very big world," it said.

lesquee @ 2004-09-15T22:29:00

2004-09-16T02:32:35Z

This has taken entirely too long, I know, and I know there was more stuff I wanted to include, but it has escaped me for the moment. :(

Les Misérables

The Shadow by Soujin Prouvaire
An AU, and a thing of beauty and a joy forever. The tale of Samuel Enjolras, who, after the death of his adored older brother, begins to build a new life for himself; it's simply written, with the delicate detailing that Soujin does so well.

He learnt Dimitri's handwriting by tracing it over and over with his pen, until he had mastered it. Of course it wasn't perfect. Samuel had never been perfect. He didn't mind.

Scar Tissue, by Sandrine
(R) Okay, so it's Montparnasse/Marius. But this is one of those stories that redeems your faith in cracked-out pairings from hell. It's dark and wrong and weird, and lovely. I could wish it took more account of Cosette, but other than that it's very well done.

"You think I'm crazy," the boy says afterwards. It's the first time he said something other than 'more' and 'please' and 'yes'.

Harry Potter

hot ice and wondrous strange snow, by victoria p.
In which Sirius is sick as the proverbial dog (sorry), and that's only half his trouble. A lovely little vignette, with angst! and friendship! and cuddling! that captures quite nicely the misery of being a teenager, laboring under the awareness of your own mortal stupidity. :)

Sanare Lupum, by Soujin Prouvaire
I could sum this up in two words, namely So and Cute, but in the interests of being helpful to the public, I won't. Instead I'll suggest that if you're fond of MWPP, and you think Peter always gets much too short shrift in fic, and you appreciate little British boys being written as little British boys rather than anything else, and you're a sucker for warm fuzzies -- read this.

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Childhood Dreams, by Daegaer
Arthur, Ford, an acquaintance, and far too much alcohol. Confessions, aspirations, and peculiar looks. Hysterically funny and oddly touching, much as the books were.

"I wanted to make a name for myself, one that people could actually pronounce."

Mythology

Unnatural Daughters, by Thamiris
Mythfic is about the only thing Thamiris writes that I can follow, which is entirely my loss, I suspect. She does it wonderfully, in a lyrical but unpretentious way. This one is short, concerning Iphigenia at Aulis, and is Ouch.

Crossovers

Psychological Demons, by Daegaer

Good Omens/Cyteen. "The hell?" I hear you say. Yes, me too. I'm not much of a crossover girl, but it figures that if anyone could write one this weird and still make my heart hurt, it would be Daegaer. Grant is doubtful; Crowley is diligent; the rest follows inevitably. Oh, and implied canon m/m, if it matters. (You'll have to forgive me; I'm having trouble saying much about it beyond "omigod omigod omigod".)

Look, an update! (Les Mis, Hornblower, HP, Westmark, Princess Bride, Outsiders)

2004-01-29T03:52:14Z

Les Misérables

Narilsa makes me wibble with word-lust. Her Frenchboys are dark and complex, and the language is lush and sexy and okay, a little heavy on the epithets and adjectives, but hey, I never claimed not to like purple. Dissembler features doctor!Enjolras and brawler!Grantaire absolutely awash in unresolved sexual tension.

"There is bruising here," Enjolras finally said, his long-fingered hand pausing in its ministrations over Grantaire's lower ribcage. Shaking his head, Grantaire reached up, took Enjolras's slender wrist in his hand, and moved the hand to his heart. Enjolras stared.

"No. That's where it is..."

She also wrote Forty Days in answer to my plea for gratuitous Mizslash, and -- let's just say it was exactly what the doctor ordered. *eg*

The Frenchboys Mix-n-Match Challenge closed awhile back, and while only half of the stories have actually come in *cough*, what's up there is well worth checking out.

K. Telfer drew Enjolras/Combeferre, and graced us with Reinvention, in which Combeferre clings to memories. Bittersweet and beautiful.

Also They Went On Their Way, by Jenelin, who is Still The Coolest: Courfeyrac/Bossuet, which like many of the mix'n'match stories shouldn't work, but does. In a decidedly Hugonian style, no less. <3

Last but not least there is One Hundred Years, by Soujin Prouvaire, which is Enjolras gen written after an idea of petronelle's and just... indescribably gorgeous.

"The small paper dragon his father had made for him writhed against his palm, and snakelike skin brushed dry against the line that meant life. Tiny claws hooked around his fingers, and tinier teeth nibbled his wrist. He stopped, childishly enthralled."

Hornblower

Speaking of Petra, you ought to know by now that if someone comes up with an oddball pairing, she'll probably write it just to see if she can pull it off. This one was Hornblower/Foster, and St. Elmo's Fire proves emphatically that she can. It's a drabble, and it is Just Right.

Harry Potter

I am one of those people who is vaguely terrified by Potterfandom in general, but fics keep poking into my consciousness. And yes, I freely admit to being something of a Sirius fangirl. What can I say? I'm drawn to melodramatic screwups. ;)

Four Thousand Two Hundred and Sixty, by Kel. Sirius in Azkaban, evidently written pre-OotP, and fragmented and enthralling and again, Right.

Also A Dog's Life, by Victoria P., which is a very simple, ridiculously cute story about... exactly what it sounds like, really. Okay, so it's not earthshattering drama, but it's so. Cute.

Westmark

Terence, by Old Kasperl, despite the pen name is an angsty little Florian vignette. (Someday, somewhere, in the far distant future, someone will write Florian humor and what there is of the fandom will implode from the paradox.) It's a bit over the top, but I like it anyway; it feels authentic to me.

The Princess Bride

Fearing Greenland, by debchan, is. Well. Princess Bride slash. But so help me God, it works, it's dear, and it's not even Racy.

Outsiders

Okay, I will admit something. I have never read "Outsiders". Have no idea what it's about, even. Do you know how often I read fanfic about something I'm not familiar with? Never.

But I do when it's Soujin writing it, because... because, dammit. And because Quai Razio Serna is an adorable story in its own right. Two boys in a train. Night thoughts. Slash of the fluffiest, adolescentest, wibblingest, timidest, sweetest kind. Go read it. Even if you have no idea what "Outsiders" is.

Belated, but worth the wait (Silmarillion, Bible, Les Miserables)

2003-09-04T16:26:14Z

Oh, lands. I had this batch all ready to go and then my computer flaked out on me. *facepalm* Have only just rediscovered them. So.

I was rereading The Silmarillion a while back, and getting beautiful mental images. I said to myself, "Self, there's a story somewhere in that description of Oromë hanging around the primeval forest for all those untold years." Then I got online, and lo and behold, Marnie has written it. Ernil i Duremmen is a lovely, understated snippet, very much in the tone of the original. Plus, baby!Celeborn! Squee!

Little Dogs, by Daegaer -- you know I can't go another update without reccing Daegaer -- is the story of Athalbelet, a Tyrian woman who manages never to be at a loss, even in the most trying situation. It makes my little ficcer's heart explode with joy, not least because I'm a sucker for walk-on characters. :)

So too does Ghost In The Labyrinth, by Tiamat's Child, in which Musichetta and her boys go on an expedition. It's sweet and fluffy like Grandma's menage-a-trois gingerbread, purely romantic and dead-on in character.

Nunquam Erit, or five things that never happened to Cosette, by Soujin Prouvaire, could not be more different; it varies from the melancholy to the outright grotesque, but it's refreshing to see Cosette treated with such depth and imagination.

Go, read, feed the authors. :D

Fairy tales, French girls, and foolishness (Les Miz, Beauty and the Beast, Harry Potter)

2003-06-16T03:50:30Z

Whoops. I was going to update this weekly. I'd blame it on the dearth of good fic out there, but I fear bone laziness cannot be entirely discounted. ;) Here, then, is an update, and forgive my inarticulate state.

Let me start off by venturing into yet another fandom, that of the last really great Disney flick: Beauty and the Beast. Damn, they don't make 'em like that anymore.

Of Clocks And Candles, by Sara, is weird, cute, and oddly touching all at once. Lumiere and Cogsworth adjust to human life. I'm not entirely sold on the characterization, but damn, it's cute.

Conversely, there's Passing of a Winter Love, by Sophia Jirafe, in which happily ever after... isn't quite, and Beauty waxes nostalgic. Elegantly written and terribly sad.

Moving on to Les Miz, Meiyandi's Some Things Never Change is a new and wondrous thing: a canonically plausible fic in which Eponine survives. And On Easy Terms, by Cosette, revisits another fangirl standard -- Griefstricken!Marius -- and does so sensitively and without undue melodrama.

And then there's the Potterfic. In Love, by Halrloprillalar, is the Cutest. Thing. Ever. It's slashfic, Marcus Flint/Oliver Wood, from the former's POV, and by the end of it you're just going to want to give him a hug, the lummox.

Last but not least, Spell, by isiscolo, tickles my funny bone in ways which are probably illegal in several states. No, really, it's G-rated. Go, read, chortle.

Just a handful (Les Miz, Phantom, Guerre, Good Omens)

2003-05-13T23:30:31Z

You know, when I started this, I thought it was going to be mainly Les Mis recs, because that's what I'm mainly into. But of late, I'm not finding nearly as much reccable stuff there as I am in other odd fandoms.

So. First I should mention Uncertainty, by Mage O'Dell. The writing style is a bit wobbly ("it's a good style, only it wobbles"), but overall this is a wonderful, understated piece. Courfeyrac is nervous about the planned insurrection, so he confides in Prouvaire. The key thing, for me, is that he's nervous, not convinced of failure; I've always been bugged by Clairvoyant!Suicidal!Amis who, in fic, apparently know that they are going to fail and die, but go off to the barricades anyway. Mage O'Dell's Courfey suffers reasonable doubt, and therefore I sympathize with him.

And now, an oldie but goodie. Ladies and germs, I present Lieutenant Arh, by Ruel, for my money the best piece of weirdness in Miz fandom. An alien soldier recounts his memories of a long-dead hero, exiled to a backwater planet for a crime he never committed... still with me? It's not a flawless story; the plot devices aren't particularly cleverly disguised; but the originality of the whole thing and the tragicomic feel -- it's so silly, and yet poor Arh! -- more than make up for any shortcomings.

Onwards and outwards. I've been writing Phanfic lately, but having qualms about reading it because of the astounding piles of "Erik-is-a-God Raoul-is-a-fuckwit Christine-is-a-ninny who-will-pay-for-her-Awful-Mistake" dreck. And then there's Mademoiselle Meg, who shares my affection for the maligned Monsieur de Chagny, and who wrote Masquerade. It's a vignette written from the Phantom's viewpoint, some time in the future. What makes it stand out for me is that this Phantom has, at long last, outgrown his self-absorption and become a genuninely caring, moderately sane human being -- which he wasn't to begin with. It's sweet and touching and very well done.

Imposter, by Augustus, is comforting proof that I am not the only person who finds Martin Guerre the Slashiest Thing Ever. :) In this, short and not at all sweet, Guillaume details exactly how he knows that it isn't Martin Guerre. Augustus clearly has an evil, twisted mind, and how can I not appreciate that?

Last but not least, it's Good Omens fic again. Falling, by Daegaer, is a series of three drabbles that send shivers down my spine. GO is a very silly book, and I love it that way, but it makes it all the more impressive when the angstier side of the characters is brought out like this. What's it about? Just what it says. :)

Things I didn't expect to like (Les Miz, Narnia, Greek legend, et al.)

2003-05-06T19:40:48Z

First up a couple of fairly recent Les Mis things, before I forget. Quietly is that rarest of things, a good fan poem. Soujin Prouvaire (alias Kang Xiu) evokes Jean Valjean at the time of his death in an understated, touching way. The super-short lines are a tad distracting, but that's my only gripe.

I don't quite know why I like Leeches. It's all kinds of things that don't especially appeal to me: it's rambling and convoluted, very very dark, and it features blood, crawly things, and a Combeferre more warped than even my cynical brain could come up with. And yet, with all this, it's remarkably compelling, like a freaky dream that fascinates you until you wake up in a panic.

Yvi's fiction often deals with sibling antagonism, a subject she handles sensitively and realistically. Till now, I've only seen it in her Les Miz fic, but now she's written Until Then about the infamous Electra, and her less famous sister, Chrysothemis, and I am impressed. (Also to check out is Family Issues, which turns Les Miz fanon on its head.)

I bitch a lot about humor fics. This is because the vast, vast majority of them are so unfunny it makes my teeth hurt. But, just when I'm about to write off the entire genre, along comes A Valjean Family Reunion by Jacqueline French and sends me into stitches. It's silly. It's implausible. It is also witty and delightfully cute. Go thou and read; it will do you good.

And speaking of humor done well: Just a Thought, by afrai. It's LotR, and evilly brilliant, and I really need to read some LotRfic that isn't Elrond, don't I? In this one we discover just how he keeps a room full of unruly beings in order...

If you'd told me six months ago that I'd read Narnia femslash and like it, I'd have backed away slowly without making eye contact, but... these things happen. Oh, those decadent Calormenes! The only name I can discern for kay_taylor's story is Aravis in Tashbaan, but who cares about titles? It's beautifully written, with the attention to descriptive detail that makes good children's lit so engaging, and utterly believable. Go read it; I promise it won't burn your eyes.

And finally, two more Hornblower drabbles -- I can only take this stuff in small doses, you know, so far. petronelle wrote Bestias Ingleses, which is rather weird and rather sexy, and then she made me read Speculation, by one Calypso, which is -- madly cute.

First Entry (Les Miz, Lord of the Rings, Good Omens, et al.)

2003-04-26T17:46:28Z

Hello. I have never done this before, but it seemed like a moderately good idea. Bear with me, won't you?

So I'm going to begin in the middle, and make this as diverse an entry as possible in an effort to ensnare as many people as I can. ;) Now, ordinarily I am fannishly monogamous, but of late so many lovely fics in so many unlikely fandoms have surfaced that my resolve is weakening.

First, while dallying, as it were, with a former love, I ran across Bearer of Bad Tidings, by LOTR_lover. Now, left to myself, I wouldn't really give a hoot about Elrond, who was too remote in the books to spark even my eccentric interest. But this story, capturing him as he faces the loss of his daughter and a reunion with his spouse, is lovely, and makes him much more real and sympathetic (one hesitates to say human). Not only that, but the author has Galadriel's voice dead-on.

Now I'm going to be shamelessly partisan and suggest that you go read Petronelle Lemaitre's two Hornblower slash drabbles, here and here. Petronelle is dragging me kicking and screaming into this fandom, mind you, but if it's going to inspire her to write little gems like these, I may yet resign myself. ;)

I already recced Caught In Between, by Mori, in my regular journal, but it deserves to be recced again. Mori has posted a handful of Les Miz fics so far, several of which I enjoyed, and this is the best of those: Combeferre, on the barricades, meditates on his friendship with Enjolras and where it's led him. It's an emotional story, but never descends into saccharine angst, and leaves me feeling heartachey and tremulous.

And then there's Denouement, by K. Telfer. There is a sore, sore lack of good Cosette fic; the character mostly gets either demonized (???) or ignored. But Telfer has written an honest, moving portrait of Cosette and Marius just after the close of Les Miserables, that shows clearly what it's easy to forget: Cosette has suffered before, and she will again, and she's never been weak in the face of suffering. It hurts, but in the good way.

LotR again: In Bliss by Jenelin is not new. Neither is Amy's A Gardener's Toil. But you should read them, if you haven't already. The first is short and spare, the second sprawling and verbose, but Jen's Éowyn and Amy's Sam have two things in common: they are doing their best with Happily Ever Afters that turned out to be Life Goes Ons, and they are exactly, completely recognizable as themselves.

And then there's The Men of Renown, by Daegaer, which is as much Biblefic as Good Omens fic, and is strange and wonderful for all that it is, in spots, amusing. I want Daegaer to come to my fandoms, man.

I'm not really into Harry Potter fic yet, mainly because I've only read the one volume. That said, The Frenzy of Agauë, also by Amy, tackles the childhood of Remus Lupin and makes my chest hurt even though I don't know the character from Adam. That's Amy for you. It's a bit rambly and digressive, and if you're not weird like me you may object to the random classical reference (I found it delightful), but it's still achily wonderful.

And lastly, while I'm here, I ran across Flower Children by Essy, neatly summarized as "Petunia Dursley as a young girl". I am eternally a sucker for fic that humanizes your average cardboard villain, and this does it so well.