Hidden in the Stacks

Jazoriah's fic and podfic recs

[jazoriahrecs]

Do You Mind? (will you mind?)

Fandom: Stranger Things

Author: GreenQueenofClubs

Length: 26,537

Rating: Explicit

Summary: Look. It’s not Steve’s fault. It isn’t!

It’s just that someone can only get hit on the head so many times before their brain starts cracking, and Eddie Munson is always thinking so GODDAMN LOUD.

Review: I'm really enjoying this pairing, and this fic does a good job of building a very cozy connection around the (unspoken) violence of Season 4.

Steve has accidental telepathy, and is taking it like a champ. Eddie would like to do the same... heh.

This is ultimately really sweet and the sexual encounters do a great job of building sensation and exploring character.

[jazoriahrecs]

A Bad Idea, Well Executed

Fandom: Stranger Things

Author: StrivingArtist

Length: 43,112

Rating: Mature (but arguably explicit)

Summary: Eddie was always good at watching.

The kids loved Harrington for having their backs, for always answering if they called, for driving them around, and for making sure all of them were safe. Eddie heard enough whispers between them to know that it didn’t matter when they woke up from a nightmare, Harrington always answered within a few seconds.

They loved Steve Harrington, and they’d seen some shit, but they were still just kids.

Whatever the fuck was up with Harrington, it was starting to fuck with the kids, and that wasn’t okay.

After that night, Eddie was watching on purpose.

Review: An intense and powerful relationship piece showing BDSM as a way of dealing with PTSD and a lack of control of your own feelings. The author has done a large amount of research to do justice to the mental health issues involved, but also acknowledges that her characters are walking a dangerous line without really knowing the right thing to do.

It's beautifully written and deeply caring. I love Eddie in this, and can absolutely see Steve losing himself in his own protectiveness.

The series is not done yet, but has 2 completed stories that I really enjoyed, and I look forward to the next installment.

[jazoriahrecs]

A Higher Form of War

Fandom: Marvel (Avengers)

Author: sabrecmc

Length: 292 114 words

Rating: Mature (but could easily be rated explicit)

Summary: Tony is a King with a surprising number of people out to kill him. Steve and the rest of the Avengers are fighting for Pierce's rebellion and end up with Tony as their prisoner. Oops.

Basically one of those bodice-ripping romance novels I don't read (ahem) but with far more gay.

Review: A deeply moving and well-constructed story of political intrigue and deep personal connections. This story sometimes had me actually catching my breath.

The story dives deep into both Steve and Tony's perspectives, which can at times mess with the pacing as a switch in POV takes us back in time until we catch up to the action we were expecting. However, it does enrich the story and give both characters more pathos than they would have otherwise, so I think it's worth it.

Enjoy, y'all.

[jazoriahrecs]

Batfam One-shots

Fandom: DC (Batman)

Author: A_Canceled_Stamp

Length: 50 304 words

Rating: Teen+

Summary: What it says on the tin, with a consistent focus on Tim hurt/comfort.

The summary of the first is:

Jason is making an effort to try and fix things.

It goes okay until it suddenly doesn't.

Review: Often heart-wrenching, with deep character dives on both Tim and the people around them. I found each piece powerful and emotional, doing justice to a lot of the canon trauma of the comics.

[jazoriahrecs]

Whumptober (Revisited)

Fandom: Shadowhunters (TV)

Author: Bohemian (Linguam)

Length: 29 735 words

Rating: General (should probably be Teen+ for violence)

Summary: Malec Whumptober 2019 collection.

Review: A series of very powerful and emotional one-shots focussing on Alec and Magnus - mostly hurt/comfort, with a lot of angst. I think this author is very deft with their depiction of a range of traumas and includes a lot of beautiful partner support.

[jazoriahrecs]

Instant Kill Mode

Fandom: Marvel (Avengers, Spider-Man)

Author: ambivalentangst

Length: 23 340 words

Rating: Teen+

Summary: "Is there a reason you're calling this late at night?" Tony asks, worried in spite of himself. "Tell me what's going on, kid."

“Everything is one-hundred-percent fine,” Peter says. “Seriously, I've never been better. But I should let you know I have about thirty bricks of cocaine in my bedroom. Also, Karen won't let me turn off Instant Kill Mode. Also, Walmart discontinued my special razzleberry pink squeezy lemonade. Which isn't related to tonight's patrol, I'm just bummed about it.”   Or: The five times Instant Kill Mode is activated +1

Review: So hard not to laugh out loud while secretly reading this one at work. The dialogue is hectic and hilarious and I love reading from Tony's perspective as his affection and love colour every thought about Peter, Pepper and the exiled Avengers. His Dad-frustration is amazing and I totally get it.

[jazoriahrecs]

The Dresden Omens

Fandoms: Good Omens, The Dresden Files

Author: shiplizard

Length: 17 879 words

Rating: General

Summary: In which a demon (who did not fall from grace so much as saunter vaguely downward) is sent to tempt a hero (who's reluctant at best) and has some trouble with the job. Spoilers through Book 9 of the Dresden Files (White Night) and absolutely all of Good Omens

Review: This feels like quite a fun victory lap of all the beautiful people in Harry's life and their fierce protectiveness and righteousness. Crowley is a very fun lens to view this through as a very-uncomfortable-demon-not-wanting-to-be-here.

[jazoriahrecs]

A Few of Merlin's Abrupt Intrusions into the Wizarding World

Fandoms: Harry Potter, Merlin

Author: RileyWilliamsJr

Length: 40 625 words

Rating: General

Summary: As Harry chases down Bellatrix Lestrange, an unexpected stranger breaking into the Ministry of Magic—through, shall we say, unusual means—interrupts the Battle of the Department of Mysteries and proceeds to put an end to the various goings-on in order to get on with whatever he was doing there in the first place.

Review: A silly and very fun idea combining highly compatible fandom worlds.

While I found the first story a little irritating, as it implies that Dumbledore chose not to call in his semi-god friend for help out of sheer stubbornness and disregard for the people he was failing to protect, the later installments are really enjoyable and do a great job of weaving Merlin's power and gremlin-energy into Dumbledore's canonical story. I like the many personas that Merlin takes on and his total failure at being inconspicuous around a young Albus, and the respect (and eye-rolling friendship) that builds between them is a lot of fun.

[jazoriahrecs]

Trust Fall

Fandom: Good Omens

Author: Atalan

Length: 4 569 words

Rating: Teen+

Summary: AU. Not long after the start of the Arrangement, Aziraphale Falls, and Crowley does the only thing he can think of to protect him from the rest of Hell.

Review: Crowley is desperate and Aziraphale could very easily become everyone's victim. I always adore the connection between these two, and witnessing Crowley's thoughts on Aziraphale's expressions of betraying is genuinely heartwrenching.

[jazoriahrecs]

Pray for Us, Icarus

Fandom: Good Omens

Author: Atalan

Length: 65 836 words

Rating: Teen+

Summary: For three centuries, Crowley has been reincarnated over and over as a human with no memory of his past. Aziraphale has tried to find a way to restore him to his true self, but all he seems to do is hurt them both. This time, he only means to steal a brief moment when he walks into Crowley's flower shop. But Crowley can't let it go...

Review: I genuinely fell into this fic. The angst is beautifully written and the culmination of centuries of lost time does real justice to the massive story they are telling. Worth a hundred re-reads.

[jazoriahrecs]

Bakugou's Week from Hell

Fandom: My Hero Academia

Author: I_Fear_I_Fell

Length: 22 901 words

Rating: Mature

Summary: He was drowning on dry land, burning lungs filled with toxic sludge. He shuddered, gasping for air or at least trying to, tears streaming out of the corners of his eyes. His hands, tired from struggling and explosions, barely twitched towards his throat. He couldn’t breathe, even now he couldn’t get a breath in and he didn’t think anyone noticed.

“K-Kacchan! Please, tell me he’s not—!”

Or:

Bakugou dies during the sludge villain attack and ends up in a time loop of that day. It seems simple: survive the day and break the loop. But he soon realizes things aren't that easy-- and why the hell does Deku keep showing up? And why the hell can't he seem to stay alive?

Review: Death time loops are always cool in action stories, but it's particularly interesting when the POV character is someone as volatile as Bakugou. I like seeing him forced into introspection, and I do enjoy that he is still consistently pushing to protect people, even as his own wellbeing is on the line.

[jazoriahrecs]

Blips on the Record

Fandom: Marvel (Spider-Man)

Author: ambivalentangst

Length: 8 774 words

Rating: Teen+

Summary: Flash, let it be known, doesn’t like Peter. He’s too good at everything—infuriatingly so—and nobody ever calls him on his bullshit, like with AcaDec nationals. Flash has to put his all into everything he does for a fraction of the attention Peter gets for his bare minimum, and it pisses him off, to say the least, so sue him for looking for chances here and there to knock him down a peg.

However, when he notices, he shuts his entire operation down.

Maybe Peter has a decade on his age when he was in the thick of it, but Flash remembers what it was like. He gets having school be a safe place, and nobody, not even himself, is going to jeopardize that for Peter.

//

Flash Thompson’s story is not simple, Peter Parker can always use someone else in his corner, and secrets are had and protected by all.

Review: Sympathetic protective Flash is my favourite. Due to his own experiences with domestic abuse, he misreads Peter's situation, and immediately attempts to subtly help. Regardless of his reasons, his help does help.

[jazoriahrecs]

the self is not weightless

Fandom: Miraculous

Author: ambivalentangst

Length: 9 880 words

Rating: Mature

Summary: Marinette never really wanted to be a superhero, for the record, but the choice wasn’t hers. And when she sees a car headed for Alya the day Stoneheart appears, that’s not a choice either—that’s a death sentence for a girl with no powers, just a phone and too much curiosity for her own good.

Marinette becomes Ladybug, and she moves.

In hindsight, Marinette supposes the car crushes her skull, her lungs—something like that. She thinks she remembers hitting the ground, but that could be wishful thinking, the desire for a sense of certainty that will always be out of reach. It doesn’t really matter, as much as she’d like to think so.

The bottom line is that on her first day on the job, Ladybug dies. And then she gets back up.

//

Or, in an effort to keep her newest wielder calm, Tikki might’ve skipped over some things in her initial explanation.

Review: I actually really like angsty takes on this world. Marinette is immune to death, so injury and pain and danger is never an excuse to stop fighting. It takes far too long for Adrien to realise what is happening, and once he does the attempts to convince her that her pain is real and something she's allowed to be upset about are incredibly reassuring.

[jazoriahrecs]

He's Our Goober

Fandom: Marvel (Spider-Man)

Author: battybatzgirl

Length: 1 424 words

Rating: General

Summary: “You got shot,” the girl snaps. “You promised you wouldn’t get shot.”

Their banter is so achingly familiar, but Tony can’t quite pin down why. It reminds him of that time he was testing out new flight suits and fell off a third-floor balcony. He and Pepper had only been dating for a few months, and the two were unfamiliar with the push and pull of a relationship when one of you was a superhero.

The realization hits him like a truck.

Holy shit, Tony thinks. They’re dating.

(Or: the one where Tony meets MJ in the back of an ambulance because their boy gets a minor gunshot wound.)

Review: Love this. Very caring dynamics from MJ and from Tony. Much warm and fuzzy.

[jazoriahrecs]

Into His Fold

Fandom: Marvel (Avengers, Spider-Man)

Author: ambivalentangst

Length: 18 768 words

Rating: Mature

Summary: Thanos has always had children. Snapping his fingers and turning his next into ash will not change that.

Peter has never wanted to die, never relished the thought, but it doesn't take long for him to prefer that fate over filling an empty spot at Thanos' side.

Review: This one is genuinely heartbreaking. It's well-written, dark, and you absolutely feel Peter's determination and despair, as well as Tony's deep protectiveness.

It's a lot, and it's beautiful

[jazoriahrecs]

Looking Glasses

Fandom: Marvel (Avengers, Spider-Man)

Author: ambivalentangst

Length: 14 595 words

Rating: Teen+

Summary: Tony Stark meets Flash Thompson at a gala, and things get more interesting than either of them expect.

Review: A quietly reassuring connection story between Tony and Flash, with some clear references to emotional abuse and how people move through it with support.

I love how competent Flash is here, both in the school work he sneaks into events and in how he manages people in a crisis. I also adore the moment when he and Peter are suddenly stuck together and can't help sniping.

[jazoriahrecs]

Fandom: Miraculous

Author: Kasienda

Length: 31 941 words

Rating: Teen+

Summary: Chloé has never been a fan of Ms. Bustier’s community building activities. In fact, she detests them. She doesn’t want to learn about the drab boring lives of her peers. And she absolutely can’t stand it when their confessions make her feel things. Feelings that she doesn’t even have names for. But when Adrien unknowingly shares his struggles with his double life, Chloé vows she will do anything to get Ladybug to set things right. Even if it means pissing off the heroine. Chloé was already mad at her anyway.

Review: This story is supremely cathartic. It really is just a very well-written restorative conversation in which every character gets to express the stuff they keep hidden. The stakes are all related to emotional and mental well-being, and there is something very satisfying about that.