I have been making so many recs, I love reccing, I want all appropriate people to see the gorgeous fic! I also have about 800 recs at delicious.com/msilverstar, maybe you'll like some of those...

My main fandom is now and always will be Lotrips. But I've branched out a bit, and rec fic in lots of other fandoms (including ones like SGA that I don't even watch), because good stories are worth sharing.

So: ( my last 12 recs: lotrips, bandom, merlin, torchwood )

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That would be lotrips, bandom, merlin (mostly RPS and/or AUs), and doctor who/torchwood. Feeds are at delicious/rss/msilverstar, msil_fanfic_recs on LJ, msil_fanfic_recs_feed on dreamwidth.

I would post recs here more often if it wasn't such a huge pain in the ass. This took me hours to fix up and I hate the format. Anyone have a nice delicious to LJ/DW script that runs on Macs? I'll run a command-line program in the Terminal if I have to.

My Remix is woooonderful, thoughtful and sexy and gives me shivers in a very good way. There's a little bit of bondage and stuff, but it's not hard-core at all, really more about character than kinky sex. From What You Do, Because of You, Dom/Orlando, amazing!

I sympathize with all my SGA-loving friends: they shouldn't oughta cancel your show! telesilla is having The Second International Blanket Fort Day for group hugs and commiseration.


We watched Ocean's Eleven the other night. Didn't do much for me, but Andy Garcia was gorgeous.

There's an interesting fanfic and children's literature survey.

We now have corn-based cat litter and an amazing cat brush, The Furminator! (Wot, you think "cats" is not a fandom? I beg to differ.)

Hobbit spam! Screenshots from the trilogy: all Hobbits, all the time. Great captions cracked me up, but the pictures made me all nostalgic.

I'm reading a very satisfying Dom/Billy WIP Boston by eff_reality. And I don't just say that because I suggested the name. It's Billy the film history graduate student, and Dom, the mostly-cheerful prostitute, but it plays with the conventions and there are missed connections and it avoids a lot of romantic clichés.

( omg bandfic? me? well, just these two AUs )

Also, I'm sorry that the feed msil_fanfic_rec (LJ) and msil_delicious (IJ) kinda went crazy, and started sending out tag links, alphabetically. It's del.icio.us, and I don't know how to keep it from happening again :-(

It turns out that a person can have a writer's block for recs too. I'm finally back. These are all good, but not the only good stories. I'll be reccing more, but I can't be comprehensive. Everyone should rec!

( Billy/Dom/Viggo )

( Orlando/Bean )

( Elijah/Dom )

( Dom/Billy and Billy/Dom )

25 stories Penknife never wrote about the Marauders - based on fanfic100 prompts but full of metafandom snark. Very cheering.

and gravity, scientists say, is weak -- another by penknife, Remus/Sirius, after Azkaban. Painful but beautiful baring of scars.

Vivify by lightgetsin - Sirius/Remus (with some Snape), postwar, Sirius revived, rediscovers his life and attempts a rescue. It's plotty in the best way: no great adventures, just life and confusion and weaving one's way through. The mansex at the end was a little tacked-on, a reader can take or leave it.

( fabulous Lotrips: be adventurous and read new pairings! )

( a Glorious PotC prequel )

Thinking about fanfic: I'm in non-analytic mode these days, and most fanfic meta discussion doesn't grab me, partly because I like het and femme as much as slash. But the_drifter has a great post on an academic analysis of erotic fiction that makes a lot of sense to me. Also cupiscent talks about tops and bottoms, nuances, and departure from canon. Lovely stuff!

LOTRiPS

Pressure Cooker (by themoononastick, time & place unknown, Viggo/Dom, R). Lovely images of Dom through Viggo's eyes, surprise that Dom can be silent and still.

Title: Love in a Broken Elevator (by saone77, AU, Orlando/Viggo, NC-17). Shows what great things a good author can do with an old cliche! Crackly dialog, realistic characters, nice smut. I'm picky about Viggo/Orli especially, but this really works.

Billy Forgot (by hyacinth_sky747) followed by Taking Care (by apple_pi, set 2004ish, Billy/Dom/Viggo, NC-17). Mostly PWPs, telegraphic style conveys Billy's various reactions very effectively. And what a gorgeous smutty threesome!

Calm, Part 1 and Part 2 (by jillybinks, set in July 2005, Dom/Evi, NC-17). Happy het oral sex. A great combination of hedonism and tenderness.

( crossovers )
( other fandoms )

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Recs Note: this is the last big recs post I'm doing. From now on, they'll come one at a time, as I read them. Especially with tagging, it's really better that way.

(ETA: so much for that idea. I just can't do one-rec-per-post. Sorry.)
You're still welcome to comment (I love fb!)

Lotrips

Fun and Games - complete. (by azewewish; set during filming; Dom/Karl/Orlando; NC-17). One of the original very-dommy-Karl series, recently revised and significantly tightened. Dom and Orlando have a friendly rivalry going when Dom falls, hard, for Karl, who reciprocates his feelings in a deeply intense relationship. But Orlando keeps objecting...

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AUs Series (mostly WIPs)

peter_and_fran (start with Peter and Fran, part 1a and keep going). AU with the actors in a strange rock-folk-art band. Viggo, Dom, Elijah, Billy, Orlando (+ Eric Bana), Liv, Sean Bean, Sean Astin, Ian, Sala, and mooooooore. WIP. It's weird and amazing and very very funny. I can't explain, just, read it!

st_catherines (start with St. Catherine's, part 1 and keep going.) By jubilancy and oneangrykate, AU; set in Montreal; Dom, Elijah, Orlando, Peter, Fran, Billy, Ian, Viggo, Miranda, and others, NC-17, WIP). Gritty, unpretty, fairly desperate hustlers rather than 'rent-boys', fascinating, sweet, and scary.

Material World (by telesilla and darkrosetiger; AU, set in LA; Orlando/Sean Bean; NC-17 with some BDSM elements, WIP). Orlando as a high-class whore, with cameos by many actors as clients and friends. Nice strong situations, hot sex, interesting characters, yum.

_unsound (start with Unsound I and keep going). By shaenie and traveller; set in LA now; Billy, Johnny Depp, NC-17 for violence so far. Bill is a dirty cop / security expert for various mobsters, Johnny is a weird bad guy, so far they're just fencing with words, but wow. So much fun to read!

Guerdon. (By chaosmanor; AU set now in Los Angeles; Viggo/Orlando; NC-17, some het (yay!) WIP). Viggo is an English teacher and lives like a modern-day hippie. Orlando is an earth-spirit who lives in Griffith Park -- it's better than it sounds :-) They meet, like each other, and decide to walk to the mountains. I'm enjoying the ride so very much!

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AU PotC series
Mayflower (by viva_gloria; modern day setting; Orlando/Jack, Elizabeth/James; R - complete) A lovely story, full of place and personality and hope and happiness.

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AU HP series
Corridors of Power (by blythely; set in 2005 London; Draco/Harry, PG to NC-17; complete). Lovely snarky series, a fabulous mix of HP slashfic and The West Wing, with Draco as a libertarian Tory, Harry as a LibDem (I think), and both young men with hidden depths. Current events and sex, what a delightful combination!

(note: recs tags are now working. have fun!)

(all my recs are in my recs memories list)

Mirror Mirror (by kiltsandlollies, set in LA, 2005ish, Dom/Billy, R-ish). Sympathetically angsty, with no one right or wrong, just love and stress.

Guilty Pleasures (by light_the_sky76, set during early filming, Billy/Dom, G). Full of gentle longing, lyrical images and friendship.

London, After Midnight (by fitofpique, time unknown, Dom/Billy, NC-17). Rimming is so not my favorite kink, and yet, a very very few stories make me appreciate it. This is one of them. Billy's generosity and Dom's loving acceptance are too good to reject.

The Age Of Innocence Is Dead (by themoononastick, set 2005, Evie/Dom/Ana Matronic, NC-17). Evie and Dom go to a Scissor Sisters concert and have a threesome with one of the singers. Evie's POV, minor bondage, very hot! I really like the setup, and Evie being a strong sexy woman ready to try something new.

Sidi. A charming series from the ever-wonderous pecos, told from Orlando's dog's POV. It's one of the nice VigOrli stories, doesn't slag Kate, and the dog is really funny.

War Games / Playing With the Peace (by ladysunrope with some parts by uluithiel, alternate reality Dom/Elijah, NC-17). Long AU in which Dom and Elijah have a difficult relationship, Dom enlists in the British military and almost dies several times, then has to deal with severe PTSD. It's wonderfully done, angst galore but entirely appropriate (not gratuitous). There are some places which lag, but it's mainly touching and affecting. I've been reading it as it was being written and it's one of those fanfics that just resonate.

peter_and_fran - AU wherin the LOTR actors are in a rock band. It's great, full of quirky characterizations that defy stereotype, among others, an artsy!Viggo who's quite charming, wonderful vignettes, dialog and bits of imagery. They're on hiatus until June 8 but there's plenty to read :-)

You Get What You Need (by norah. XMen movieverse, Rogue/Iceman, NC-17). Sweet and tense and young and slightly kinky in a very innocent way: it really works. It makes me very pleased that I actually saw that movie, which otherwise didn't do much for me. Wonderful.

All these are out of the ordinary in some nifty way. Enjoy, and don't forget to leave feedback, as it makes writers enormously gratified.

( Miranda/Liv, Dom/Viggo, Dom & Billy, Billy & Dom )

( Lotrips AU WIPs )

( HP Draco/Ginny by Dee! )

All my recs are now in a recs memories list.

Something old, something new -- I try not to feel guilty about taking so long to rec, because these are good stories and worth reading!

( LOTR RPS )

( Other Fandoms: HP, Lost, Good Omens, Battlestar Galactica )

Remember, if you like these stories, please tell the authors -- very gratifying to them.

You people! You just write such amazing fabulous riveting stories.

TWO lovely new Billy/Viggo short pieces, both meditative and and entirely enchanting. My almost-OTP can inspire some fabulous stuff :-) lucky Billy drabble by bibliotech and Sea Summons by airgiodslv.

All Systems Go and Lock and Load (Dom/Billy, first kiss / first sex, R, ficlets, by tehpr0n) The first one is mainly Dom's head, with some dialog, all with a nice truthful tang. Lovely mix of awkwardness and friendship and lust. The second is mostly dialog, still strong and unfussy, hot and loving.

Gaptooth (ingve9, R, OB/EW and some BB at the end) Communication between coworkers is so important, don't you think? Everyone needs some schmoop and this is lovely hot sweet stuff.

Behave (by ingve9, R, Billy/Dom/Elijah) I like this because it's not easy and painless, because there is a gritty set of misunderstandings and hurts, and because it's one of those rare second-person voice fics that really works.

Devoted Yours and A Deeper Season (Viggo/Elijah, by grievous_angel, R). AU in which Viggo is an art photographer who lives in Texas or thereabouts, and Elijah is... well read the first one and you'll see. I usually squick at anything supernatural and anything with that big an age difference, but these stories make everything work for me. Lust and sex and friendship and photography and a little philosophy.

Dom inspires drabbles

"Dom thought, 'This is it, just do it already you cunt,' and then he *did*" (lalejandra, R, Dom/Billy) I'm picky about my drabbles and this one is great. The Dom voice is so right: full of thoughts and swervy asides and memories and hopes. Makes me smile.

Transmission (Billy/Dom, R, by sophrosyne31) It's a perfect moment. I love this Dom, who listens properly

Odds and ends

Nudge, Push, Shove (by tigg71, NC-17, first one has an OFC and het). Hot and sexy.

A Lost Fic: Charlie & Hurley, Motorcycles (by sparky77). Great Hurley voice, poignant and satisfying.

This is nothing like a complete list of my favorite recent stories, I just decided I had to post instead of wibbling. More to come, I'll try to be faster next time.

( Genfic and Non-Explicit )

( Your Basic Lotrips Slash (mostly hobbits) )

( Lovely Hot Het! (lotrips and King Arthur RPS) )

( AUs )

( crack!Fic )

( Other Fandoms )

A couple of links that I haven't seen much elsewhere:

Interview with Dominic and Sean Astin at Comic Con. Link from esorlehcar on journalfen.

Video of John Rhys Davies and Sean Astin at Gen Con, on the Virtual Gen Con page -- see the menu in the upper right corner. Not happy on Macs, crashes Windows Media Player :-(

Everywhere, but still... fabulous Billy pics from Patsie! Thank you Photographer Wattie Cheung, whoever you are!

Some lovely new Sean/Viggo stories, including:

childeproof with her third in a very intense series from Sean Bean's point of view: No Harm Done

asynje has finished her amazing series, Fire and Ice. This is intense, torn, filled with longing and hope and fear. It's wonderful. It's so mature, so unsentimental and yet full of love. It blows me away.
In story order: Prequel, Ginnungagab: Fog, Ice, Fire, and Epilogue, World Tree: Dew.

On the lighter side, in the shirasade_fic journal, Mix and Match, cheerfully smutty. Images of Billy smugly following Sean, and the height difference, and Dom and Orli and Elijah jumping on Dom and and especially Sean finding the right limits.

And in case you think that there is no good Pirates fic, allow me to direct you to gileonnen's Gold. Not smutty, but wonderful, great use of language, imagery, memory, almost all Jack's musing on life and Will.

Am so happy that I'm missing whatever fandom flaming is going on. I must be off in some weird corner because all I ever see is my friends fashing about it and wishing it wasn't happening.

( in my life )

Nimbus, Comic-Con, most everyone's gone. But there are some great things around, stories, reports, icons...

A nice hot clubfic with Orlando on the prowl: Man on a Mission (R) by duckie7582

hjartad has a funny sweet DomBilly done in a casually perfect way, Brass Monkeys.

dorkorific wrote a charming, tantalizing, drunken-Will/Jack Sparrow Pirate-fic, First Warning (PG-13), I think gabbyhope recced it and now I'm doing it too.

jubilancy started a new community for, um, good Dom/Elijah stories. concept. Also constructive criticism and advice. Go for it! elijahslashdom, If I had any of those stories, I'd be posting them right now.

angstslashhope has geeky Ellijah icons

A Dutch woman has a lovely sweet account of seeing Viggo in Denmark, he and his people were great to her though she's in a wheelchair. And they posted pictures (see new icon) and videos! Viggo reminds me of Gerard Depardieu, who can turn the sexeh on and off as he chooses.

hathien posted a week ago giant Billeh pictures. Pretty pictures. Kilt! Snow in hair!

And that's all for tonight, off to bed for me.

I've got this giant pile of recs from the last couple of weeks, but here are some for today:

viva_gloria has organized a Chinese Remix wherein someone writes a story, the next writer remixes it and passes it on. This one has Sean, Viggo, Orlando, Elijah, Karl and Ian, and several interesting twists, it's fascinating to see how different writers work off slightly different versions of the same material, and which directions they go. The writers names will be posted shortly, but it's fun to read blind, so as not to be influenced by names. PG-13 or R rating.

lobelia321 - On the Pier, (R) Is a fascinating and slightly tense investigation on the contrast between actor and role. With an entirely flustered Karl.

tvillingar - Ache (PG) This gen Billy story is sweet, contemplative, and nicely open-ended.

daegaer (recommended by graycastle) - Ordinary People, (PG-13?) - an absolutely charming story vaguely in the Good Omens fandom. I couldn't stop reading though I was supposed to be back at work. I had to go slow because I wanted to savor every bit of it, every delightful detail and funny piece of dialog. Ignore the self-denigrating disclaimer at the top, and read this!

The contrelamontre no-dialog challenge continues to bring up surprising and wonderful stories. I don't seem to be writing any of them, so I'll just rec the ones that I like the best.

gabbyhope wrote a beautiful story about Merry and Pippin after the end of the Third Age, living with their memories of what they experienced. (Minor spoilers for Return of the King -- but if you haven't read that, you are missing out. Go read it now!) Even if you don't usually read FPS, read this: Busca Me.

Back in LOTRiPS, karelian has a lovely VigBean story incorporating the national bird of New Zealand, the Kiwi. Skittish

And in an FPS fandom that never occurred to me before, catslash wrote a wistful story of Horatio remembering Hamlet and dealing with Fortinbras, Prov'd Most Royal.

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Movie news: some glorious high-resolution ROTK publicity photos are out. You can count the links in the chainmail, see the minute details of the lovely costumes, Weta armor and weapons, horses, and actors. I didn't much like the small versions of these photos, but the big detailed ones are fantastic.

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In the continuing saga of my climb out of the Slough of Despond, I actually made progress on one of my scariest tasks, updating my informational web site. I have a ton of stuff to do and the sheer amount was holding me back. So making a tiny dent is a good thing. But my hard drive kept posting error messages, so I had to stop and make many backups, and will run disk utilities on it tomorrow. Upcoming scary things: write Perl scripts, write article, start book, re-activate contracts and make some money!

Lots to rec, I've been reading but not posting (my bad).

The contrelamontre challenge this week is to write a story with no dialog, but with interaction. Many people have written moody pieces that don't do a thing for me. Here are three that I think overcome the limitations and work as stories.

hjartad: Implicit, a meditation on Dominic's hands, from many points of view and interior voices, drew me in.

beccaming: Press, ostensibly about piano playing, and really about Dominic and Orlando and life.

alais: Behind Velvet a very hot Sharpe/Harper story of affectionate sex in a tight spot. Set in Bernard Cornwall's Richard Sharpe universe, though a slashy version thereof. One of the few other fandoms I can enjoy: it's not them, it's my weird hangups and lack of pop culture referants.

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Lots of good other stories lately, here are just two:

jubilancy: Like a Virgin in which a het!Dom is trying to cope with a very very gay Elijah.

cinzia: Good Morning a feel-good story of a successful Viggo-Sean relationship.

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If there's a lot of Dominic this week, it's because the LOTR Fan Club magazine had an exceedingly funny interview with him. If you haven't read it, I recommend it - (see scanned pages). Someone typed up the section where Dom talks about his 18 favorite things about Billy, but I can't find the URL.

Beizy wrote a very funny fic taking off on the article, in the form of a phone call from Billy to Dom Favorite Things

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blythely directed me to a very silly page proposing LOTR as an allegory of getting a PhD. The allegory works for me (Gandalf as the advisor, Elrond as dept. chair). I know so many who have gone through this, and some that just gave up...

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PPS I am doing pretty well, though spending too much time on Lotrips. Got actual work done! Sent invoices! Started talking about new contracts and picking up old ones! Went to lunch and swimming with my best friend. I remember having a life, it was good, and will be again.