The Recs (Less Travelled)
I’m excited to bring you the first installment of my ‘roads less travelled’ recs! I will be doing another round of this, probably once the Ted Lasso fic tag hits about 25 pages, and then I’ll also grab a couple more fandoms to collect in there!
The Rules:
Each fandom/pairing was sorted on Archive of Our Own by completed works. Anything recced here was not in the first ten pages when sorted by kudos at the time of reccing. There may be some more well-known authors on this list, but the specific fics I’ve picked are ones that didn’t crack that top ten or just didn’t get much traction and I think deserve it, so hopefully I have also balanced it out with other under the radar (and still great!) works. As ever, I have a pinned post of my other recs (none have been duplicated from there), so you can also check those out! Under the cut you’ll find 10 recs in each fandom for:
Raven Cycle
Roswell New Mexico
The Old Guard
Inception
Star Trek (mainly Kirk/McCoy)
The Raven Cycle
savor all the little pieces by littlelionvanz
“Since when do you garden?”
Ronan snorted, “Since I grew up on a fucking farm, genius. Jesus who gave you permission to pursue higher education.”
the old grip of the familiar by littleseal
"There is a single black feather and a printed out picture of Gansey, Blue and Cheng standing in front of some fucking monument Ronan didn’t care enough to remember the name of. Gansey sent it to Ronan’s phone some time ago, but it sat in his messages until Adam picked it up and grinned at it so hard that, one afternoon later, Ronan cursed and kicked and glared his old printer back to life in order to print it out.
Fuck, he thinks, I’m in love with a hoarder."
Adam collects things. Ronan is in love with him.
No Sweeter Innocence Than Our Gentle Sin by gansey_is_our_king
Ronan Lynch has wanted to kiss Adam Parrish for a long time.
(alternately titled: four times that Ronan could have kissed Adam)
Cheers to Another Seven Years! by skyermirth
Adam left Henrietta for Harvard and never returned. Now, seven years has passed, and an unexpected work assignment has brought him back to a place and people he hardly recognizes.
Row, row, row your boat by emmerrr
“What. Why are you smiling at me,” he says suspiciously.
Adam shrugs. “You’re cute.”
“I’m not cute, I’m terrifying.”
“Terrifyingly cute,” Adam says.
and now the world is ours to take / and every single move is ours to make by thatlittleblackcat
"Adam was the scientist, Ronan was the data, and Orphan Girl was the key that explained the strange outliers that Ronan presented, his previously unexplainable actions."
//
Adam sorts out his feelings, Ronan helps him, Gansey is the number one dad friend, Blue is the number one mom friend and Henry tries to make Ronan smile. Otherwise known as the story of how Orphan Girl became Opal.
All These Things You Make Me Feel by SilverOpals394
It was late. Adam could feel the long day catching up to him as he left Boyd’s, all his energy exhausted. When he started his car, the tape deck whirred to life once more. He sighed and raised his hand to turn it off, but before he did a soft melody began to play.
AU in which the mixtape Ronan made for Adam only plays the murder squash song until Adam realizes he's in love with Ronan, too.
Ways to Communicate by Jalules
Blue Sargent reflects on an early memory (and gets busy with her boyfriends.)
(The two things are related, trust me.)
Hold Me Closer, I'm Safe in Your Arms by actuallyronanlynch
“You wanna tell me why I had to hear from Henry Cheng that my boyfriend was at the hospital?” Adam hissed, though his voice wasn’t as acidic as it could’ve been. Ronan took small victories where he could.
“You don’t have a cellphone,” Ronan pointed out flatly. “It’s not like I could’ve gotten a hold of you.”
arts and crafts and the inevitability of death by sunshineinthestorm
Adam comes to the public library in search of a study spot, not a boyfriend.
But it must be his lucky day—because he ends up with a bit of both.
Roswell New Mexico
a conversation between insignificant others by Bellakitse
“Hey…have you noticed that our boyfriends are madly in love with each other?"
“You noticed that too, huh,” she answers dryly, letting out a huff of reluctant amusement.
***
Forrest and Maria share a drink and a conversation and start a friendship.
Own Personal Hell by BeStillMySlashyHeart
Now that Isobel's getting the hang of her telekinesis, Michael decides to test out his telepathic abilities. It backfires. Badly. Now Michael's trapped inside his own mind and only one person can break him out.
Drop the Hammer by brightloveee
Max makes a new friend at the shooting range, who turns out to be even more bad-ass than he expected.
(Takes place mid-S1)
Boys Like You by forgadgetsandgizmos
Curly, dirty blond hair (the mere description ‘curly’ felt like an injustice) twisted in every direction off his head, a sharp contrast with the scruff darkening his strong jawline and scowl-ridden face.
Alex made a mental note to compliment Maria on her excellent taste in men.
—
Or, Alex has coffee with Maria's one-night stand, a man who he definitely does not have a crush on.
let's exchange the experience by lostin_space
Michael decides they need to quarantine.
OR
Michael floods Alex with love and care over and over and over.
This Is Hardcore by Anonymous
Michael makes a proposal. Alex accepts. Michael wonders what the hell he’s gotten himself into.
i don't know what to think (but i think of supernovas) by Milzilla
michael discovers that the console can talk. then, he discovers it can do far more than that.
iridescence on skin by Lire_Casander
In a world where (almost) everyone has a tattoo on their right wrist with one set of coordinates that point to the place where their soulmate is born, Alex thought he wouldn't be any different. He couldn't be more mistaken.
He has two.
The Real Thing by elliebird
Max checks on Michael the morning after Michael saves Max’s ass from Wyatt Long and his dumbass buddies. He sees more than he’s supposed to.
Written for a Tumblr anon who one of their friends walking in on them or anyone of them finding out about Michael and Alex in an interesting way
Sundering by romancandles
“You know it was just an Air Force balloon, right?” says Alex.
Michael smirks. “That’s what they want you to think,” he says, with a wink.
The Old Guard
Peer Reviewed by ishandahalf
[From:] Journal of Medieval Studies ([email protected])
[Subject:] Ad-hoc note from the editor
I have noticed an uncommon level of animosity in your responses to your reviewers (or rather, one reviewer in particular). I am writing to ask if you would please do your best to keep your interactions civil. In fairness, I have also sent a similar request to the reviewer you seem to have this friction with. I trust you will both try and remain more professional in the future.
Again, thank you for submitting your work to this journal.
Sincerely,
James Copley, PhD
Editor-in-Chief
Journal of Medieval Studies
An (accidental) academic epistolary romance as (inadvertently) documented via a (theoretically) rigorously blinded peer review process.[citation needed]
third for a word and the song keeps going Macremae
It was honestly shaping up to be a pretty uneventful year before the Vatican got on Nicky’s bad side.
Or: three times in 2008 that the team genuinely thought about killing Nicky if only to get him to shut up about the changes to the Catholic English Mass and his unrelenting opinions on them, and one time Nile did.
Apex Predators In Island Ecosystems (Freeman et al., in press) by Sixthlight
Palaeobotany PhD student Nile Freeman and her supervisor Joe al-Kaysani are invited to billionaire Stephen Merrick’s new project – a theme park full of cloned dinosaurs. What could possibly go wrong?
This Rough Magic by Marivan
When Joe came to Scotland to study the sea, he did not expect to also encounter a beautiful man claiming that A. he’s a selkie and B. they’re married because Joe picked up his scarf.
It sounds like a fairy tale and that’s a problem. Because Joe’s a scientist. And selkies don’t exist.
Wars for the broken by Yuliares
Five years into his exile, Booker is joined by a companion he never expected to meet. Together, they try to work on healing.
Sometimes they go down to the sewers just so she can scream and scream. “I like to hear it echo,” she explains. “Underwater, you can’t hear anything. Here, at least I can be heard.”
“I don’t feel like a warrior anymore,” she tells him, throwing bread crumbs at pigeons. “I feel broken.”
“You’re still a warrior,” he says roughly. “This is still fighting.”
a good (eighth) impression by deanniker
Over the next few months, Joe runs into Nicky every so often at the farmer’s market. Some weekends Nicky doesn’t make it, because of his work schedule - Joe doesn’t understand it because he doesn’t ask, though he does start to recognize when one of those missing weekends is coming up because Nicky will stock up on things with longer shelf-life. When they do run into each other, they make small talk and move through the stalls together.
Joe doesn’t mention it to Lykon when he stops by, because it is kind of weird, that Lykon’s ex-boyfriend texts Joe things like - If you’re here, the apples look particularly good this week and thank you for that recipe, I did not know what I was going to do with that much couscous
Or,
Joe wouldn't usually consider starting anything with his best friend's ex, but as long as they keep it casual, it shouldn't be weird... right?
get back to where you once belonged by tenderjock
Nile takes a sip of her cappuccino and closes her eyes.
(Booker and Nile get that coffee. Life happens, along the way.)
a house; a home by mehm
“Is this a kidnapping?” Joe asks as Nicky checks both their seat belts. “Like, I don’t mind. It’s just not quite what I expected for my birthday.”
In which Joe gets a birthday surprise, because that’s the stuff you have time for when you and the love of your life become mortal at the same time.
the ties that bind by damaskrose
“There’s a story I heard many times,” Andy begins, “in the Mediterranean. Threads of fate and three sisters. One to spin, one to measure, and one to cut.”
Clutter And Croutons by flawedamythyst
Joe and Nicky have an argument, and then Nicky talks to Nile about what it really means to be in a relationship for 900 years.
Inception
My Big Fat Slightly Annoying Wedding by jibrailis
Arthur and Eames elope for ~tax reasons. Certain people in their lives are not happy at the lack of a wedding.
Remember Sydney by pathera
When Eames shambles into the safe house outside of London, he finds a red light blinking on the phone.
For the inception_kink prompt:
Arthur is on a plane which is about to crash. No way anyone is going to survive. Instead of panicking he calmly calls the team's office and gets the answering machine. He hangs up before the plane crashes.
Give me Arthur's last message to the team.
(TW: Character Death / Angst)
Of Such Deceitfulness and Suavity by delires
In which emotions manifest themselves in unusual ways.
YO, K2tog (it's like a code) by lazulisong
“Oh my God,” moans Arthur. “I’ve paid less for Somnacin. Good Somnacin.” A horrible thought strikes him. “How much is the yarn --”
“I want you to have an unguarded reaction,” Eames tells him, and pulls him up from the floor.
(They run an extraction on a knitter.)
hit the ground running by orphan_account
"I travelled halfway around the world for you. I dealt with the French for you."
Valley by wldnst
It's an old story: a knight, a prince, a kingdom in peril.
If This Is Rain Let It Fall On Me and Drown Me by Brangwen
We used to be so brave, Eames thought. Of the two of them, Arthur had always been the more fearless.
a gentle familiarity by jollypuppet
Two weeks later, Eames is on his doorstep with bad Italian takeout and a grin, and Arthur tells him he can sleep on the couch.
Your Crisis Cannot Be Completed As Dialed by sevenimpossiblethings
Arthur doesn't do snow, Ariadne is determined to be as Midwestern as possible, and blizzards make cell phone service unreliable.
Let’s Say I Do (I Do) by xsilverdreamsx
There were, perhaps some things worse that this, Arthur thinks, as he glares at the letter in his hand with his name printed clearly in bold ink, indicating his presence in two weeks for his esteemed marriage to one William H. Eames, III, at St. Catherine's Church in London, England.
Star Trek (predominantly Kirk/McCoy)
Show the World That Something Good Can Work by knune
Leonard McCoy is a doctor, not a personal assistant, and maybe that's why he can't stand working for Jim Kirk.
It's in the little things by winterover
Bones is bemused by a persistent secret admirer.
"Wedding" Away with It by pendrogon
One morning, Bones wakes up and he's single. By the same afternoon, he's married to Jim Kirk for Arbitrary Fic Reasons(TM).
How Long Will You Stay (For Your Whole Life) by withthepilot
Jim Kirk, deputy director of the Enterprise parks and recreation department, sees all of his hard work fall to pieces when budget specialist Leonard McCoy arrives from the state capital to cut Jim's budget and threaten the livelihoods of his colleagues. But thanks to a major parks project, Leonard finds a place in the department, as well as in Jim's life—and when all is said and done, Jim doesn't want him to leave.
All-Time Favorite by mardia
What to do when your best friend suddenly starts making new friends.
Joy Ride by Cards_Slash
While running for their lives from an alien species Kirk had accidentally enraged, they come across a car. And well, if you were to come across a car while being chased by aliens that wanted you dead, and you possessed some lingering knowledge of how to drive a car similar to said car, you would have decided to drive it toward the nearest cliff too.
Also a gunfight.
Syncytia by epistolic
He’d signed up for Starfleet on an impulse, but Starfleet meant James Tiberius Kirk: the first – and second, and third, and fourth – big mistake of Leonard McCoy’s life.
Renovation by canistakahari
Jim has a whammy put on him by an alien death ray and he suddenly craves domesticity. He's crazy with longing to shop at space!Ikea and get potted bamboo and he starts looking into adopting AND HE HATES HIMSELF AND CANNOT CONTROL THE SHIT. Luckily, McCoy is drunk all the time and plays house.
17:08 by butterflycell
She'd watched the news holos with a sick feeling, searching for information that was completely obvious in its absence. Amidst the reports of the the Enterprise's miraculous recovery and the damages sustained, there had been next to nothing about the crew or her captain. Jim had been mentioned only in passing, his name shied away from as his first officer limited interaction to the bare essentials.
The Honey of Hybla by shrift
"Bones, prepare to be my date."