Deadbeat Club

Wonderfalls was a quirky, short-lived TV series about a twenty-something philosophy grad working a dead-end retail job in a souvenir shop in Niagara falls. Jaye is smart and ironic and damaged and has a meddling family. One day animal-shaped inanimate objects start talking to her, asking her to do things. The show is hilarious.

Here are some fic that do the tricky job of preserving the showw's humour and heart while letting us spend more time with these characters.

Homing Pigeon by ospery_archer. 7K words. Jaye hated losing arguments with inanimate objects. Especially when they got the last word by burning her trailer down, and her car with it.

Hot Duck by Yochan. 1.7K words.Jaye truly started hating life when her vibrator spoke up over the sound of the water rushing in her tiny shower. Now, not only was she well and truly crazy, the devil knew she owned a vibrator shaped like Ernie's rubber duckie.

I Wonder Why The Wonder Falls On Me by Zanne. 9K words. Crossover with Supernatural. Dean and Sam meet Jaye. Lolol.Surrender to Destiny" is a terrible catchphrase.

An now a festive gem: Jolly by Fox1013 1.8K. "I don't do festive," Jaye said. "It's like asking Mickey Mouse to do a striptease. It makes everyone uncomfortable."

The Pitt

Since on Day 16 I recced a threesome, I thought I might do another one: 86 Days, 87 Nights. 24 K. Robby/Abbot/Samira. There's lots of plot. Which makes sense as it's a fic that could be best described as Lost meets The Pitt. Fantastic.

A quick one, because tonight I'm shattered. In the unlikely event someone isn't familiar with the show or the movie, Fanlore has a good rundown.

My main ship back then was Mal/River (now that I'm older I'm slightly squicked by the age difference though River is so much more powerful that Mal that this redresses the balance a little), so my recs reflect this. Also, Firefly seems to be the little black dress of crossovers, as it goes well with any fandom. I remember reading loads of very fun crossovers, unfortunately I had only a handful saved in my bookmarks.

No Power In the 'Verse by vialethe. 24K words. Mal/River. Having no choice but to feel, River cherishes all the more deeply the ability to act. If only she knew what action to take." A believable and gorgeously written take on this unlikely pairing. Very good River voice, which must be a bitch to get right.

I Fall by Kass. Mal/River. River knows what she wants. Probably the first story that made me fall for this pairing. It's adorable how persistent River has to be and how flustered Mal is.

Whiskey and Wry by musesfool Mal/River. There's a difference between what a man wants and what he knows is right. Exquisite yearning, lovely character voices.

Good Luck Charms by Nary. Pre-series Wash/Zoe. Lovely backstory for one of the best married couples in TV.

And Then It Went all F*ing Stargate by indyhat. Firefly/Generation Kill. Gen. Spot-on character voices. Hilarious.

The Pitt

never waste a Friday night by morphosynctactic. Trinity/Whitaker. Don't hit the back button! I know they have siblings vibes. Yet this works. It's tremendously in character. And hot. And sweet. And hilarious. You would think that sleeping with Trinity Santos (who isn't actually that into him) would rip Dennis' self-esteem to shreds. But it turns out that when she texts him "i thought your dick was going to be kind of weird but it’s pretty solid” and "your fingerblasting is adequate" he knows that's the truth and nothing but the truth.

This is a sci-fi romance? Space opera, I think, technically. I know, it sounds weird as a combo, but it totally works. One of my all-time favourite m/m romance books. It's not a big surprise, when you learn it started out as original fanfiction on the Ao3. I'd actually read it back then and liked it. When it was published I bought it just because I was happy to be able to support one fanfic writer, thinking I wouldn't get much out of the book since I'd already read it...Boy, was I wrong. The worldbuilding had been increased a lot, adding a lot of politics. well, intergalactic, alien politics, but still messy human politics at its core. And I adore politics when it is a) fictional b) integral to the plot c) well-written. ANyway, at its core it's a tropetastic love story, (arranged marriage!There was only one sleeping bag! Grump/sunshine pairing). I adore these two characters. Blurb from GoodReads

While the Iskat Empire has long dominated the system through treaties and political alliances, several planets, including Thea, have begun to chafe under Iskat's rule. When tragedy befalls Imperial Prince Taam, his Thean widower, Jainan, is rushed into an arranged marriage with Taam's cousin, the disreputable Kiem, in a bid to keep the rising hostilities between the two worlds under control.

But when it comes to light that Prince Taam's death may not have been an accident, and that Jainan himself may be a suspect, the unlikely pair must overcome their misgivings and learn to trust one another as they navigate the perils of the Iskat court, try to solve a murder, and prevent an interplanetary war... all while dealing with their growing feelings for each other.

Is the new Prince Kiem Here To Stay?. 1.6K. Exclusive interview by Hani Sereson Jainan/Kiem. Outsider's POV. This is written as a newspaper article (by a canon journalist). Soooo IC and a lot of fun. It's a perfect epilogue, imho.

And Indeed There Will Be Time. 5.4K words. Jaina/Kiem, explicit. a little of what happened in those three days after they were rescued from the mountains. The sex scenes in the books are fade-to-black, so this awesome fic author took it upon themselves to give us some hot smut that can slot perfectly into canon. :D

The Pitt

Let Me by baeksoolatte. 6k words. Mateo Diaz/Cassie McKay, explicit.

“I heard from Dana,” Cassie says after a beat, voice light but with an edge like she’s tossing a grenade wrapped in ribbon. “Apparently Victoria Javadi has a crush on you.”

Mateo groans. “Jesus.”

“She says you don’t date coworkers.”

“I don’t,” he says, glancing at her. “But if I were going to… date one…”

Cassie looks at him sidelong, smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. “I know.” She doesn’t say no. She never says no. “Mateo, it’s not a good idea.”

So, I've already told you, as far as I'm concerned, KJ Charles is the queen of queer historical romance. My second-favourite book series of hers is the Doomsday Books Series, and in particular the first instalment, * The Secret Lives of Country Gentlmen*. Set in Georgian England, in the remote area known for smuggling called Romney Marsh, it focuses on the improbable love affair between a baronet and the head of a famous local smuggling family. Except my description doesn't do it justice at all. The synopsis on GoodReads is not bad. This has a tremendous sense of place, two flawed main characters who experience actual emotional growth, real high-stakes and problems, and lots of plot. Also, as someone who loves the English language with all her heart, I found the use of the local Kent dialect so interesting (no worries, if I got it all as a non-native speaker, anyone will). The sequel, A Nobleman's Guide to Seducing A Scoundrel, set in the same place, 15 years later and is about a minor character of the first book who gets to have his own romance with an earl and solves a mystery that was left unresolved in the first book. It's a lovely book too, I just love the two MCs for the previous book more.

Hearts Alive! by SpaceJackalope. 2.3K. Gen. Set two years after the first book. Fifteen-year-old Luke Doomsday asks Joss for advice about feelings and guys, because he's fallen hopelessly, embarrassingly in love for the first time...with Gareth. This is adorable and so in character. Poor Luke. Being fifteen sucks. There's also a podfic available!

Hearts Alive by innie. I haven't accidentally copied the same link twice, it's a different story, this is just a very popular Kentish exclamation in the books. :D 1.3K. Joss/Gareth, explicit. Joss gets his hands on Gareth The language and the character voices are perfect, it totally reads as a vignette from canon.

Jonathan's Regards by L_Monster. 8K words. Luke/Lord Corvin, explicit. This could totally be a short story bridging a gap in the canon we know of (i.e. when Luke was worked as a secreterary for Lord Corvin). Terrifically in character and hot.

The Pitt

IIRC, last time I recced a Mel/Frank story where Frank had issues and didn't treat Mel well. More in that vein, is this story be a better boyfriend than you by KH_Rogers. Mel/Shen. 31 K words. That’s what they’ll say, in the end: Dr. John Shen swooped Mel up, out of Langdon’s grasp. Good for him. Good for her, finally fucking higher on the food chain. Or, John asks Mel out on a date mid-Langdon turmoil. Mel/Shen wasn't even on my radar, before this fic, but I gave the story a chance because the author is that good...and man, I'm glad I did. KH_Rogers hasa fully fleshed-out version of Shen and he is adorable. Not to mention he doesn't come with all the baggage Langdon has. So, in this story Langdon is a bit of a bastard, if this interpretation sounds like something you can't bear, steer clear, please. However, you should keep an open mind and just read this.