Reading and Recommendations

I used to use old school req blogs so much when I was but a wee crowlette.

[thecorvidhoard]

Yee-Caw!

Welcome to the hoard. This is mostly fanfiction recommendations, for the time being.

My tagslist is here.

About the blog is here.

About the bird is here.

[thecorvidhoard]

hope blooms, eternal

Author: Naamah_Beherit Fandom: Tian Guan Ci Fu Ship: Genfic Rating: T Length: Oneshot Website: Ao3 link here My Rec:

A short fic about Blackwater taking a rare opportunity to withhold information from Hua Cheng for dramatic purposes. Very fun!

[parjums]

everyday 

[thecorvidhoard]

Building a Nursery

Author: nachtofthedead Fandom: Scum Villain's Self Saving System Ship: Shen Qingqiu/Zhuzhi-Lang Rating: PWP Length: Oneshot Website: Ao3 link here My Rec:

Zhuzhi-Lang makes normal, reasonable, rational decisions when it comes to Shen Qingqiu, as we all know. In this fic he decides to

- paralyze

- impregnate

- and marry

him for his own safety. Surely his good friend Shen Qingqiu will agree this is the right thing to do.

This is good kinky porn fun. No knowledge of SVSS required, but will add to the overall experience.

[veckati]

freak off

[thecorvidhoard]

What You Make of It

Author: metisket Fandom: D. Grey Man, Fullmetal Alchemist Ship: Genfic Rating: T Length: Oneshot Website: Ao3 link here My Rec:

This is an older fic - published 2012 - and given that D. Grey Man remains ongoing it holds up stunningly well. I don't think there's a single piece of new canon that outright josses it (aside from the crossover bits).

This is a oneshot, so it can't get too in the weeds with what adding the FMA cast to the DGM world does to the lore, and yet has quite a lot of lore packed into it. Edward and Allen's interactions are excellent, and since it's told from Edward's point of view, this isn't a fic that's fooled by Allen's polite persona.

Excellent read.

[kholodcold]

The illusion in red

[thecorvidhoard]

Love, Served On A Silver Platter

Author: Anonymous Fandom: Tian Guan Ci Fu Ship: Xie Lian/Hua Cheng Rating: PWP Length: Oneshot Website: Ao3 link here My Rec:

This is an unapologetic fetish story with a very light, sweet tone. Sometimes you need to feed your boyfriend grapes until he gets a boner about it ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯

From Xie Lian's perspective.

[auroradiation]

Chord.

print

print

[thecorvidhoard]

in a phrase to cut these lips

Author: gorgongorgeous Fandom: Trigun Ship: Vash the Stampede/Nicholas D. Wolfwood Rating: T Length: Oneshot Website: Ao3 link here My Rec:

In which there's only one bed, but Wolfwood has to launch a multi-day campaign to get Vash's martyr ass to share it with him. The tone is thoughtful and somber, mostly, but definitely full of Trigun humour. Very well done, really thinks about their respective upbringings and why they're. Well. Why they're Like That.

[hehearse]

[thecorvidhoard]

Neck in a Noose (Kick the Chair, Hang Loose)

Author: neatrogenous Fandom: Trigun Ship: Vash the Stampede/Nicholas D. Wolfwood Rating: PWP Length: Oneshot Website: Ao3 link here My Rec:

And extremely hot fic in which two people who know each other very well have sex. Good luck with that in the future, Wolfwood!

[thecorvidhoard]

a long day in yong an

Author: ThreePlums Fandom: TGCF Ship: Xie Lian/Hua Cheng Rating: E Length: 65k Complete Website: Ao3 link here My Rec:

This is a fic about Xie Lian getting out of the coffin. And getting out of the coffin. And getting out of the coffin -

It's a time loop fic. He's as confused as you are! Fortunately there's a nice young man to help him.

This is a great fic. Xie Lian's perspective is very well captured - he's so disorientated! He doesn't know what's important and what's not! I have read and reread it many times.

This is definitely a fic you need to be familiar with the canon to appreciate.

[thecorvidhoard]

both sacred and dust

Author: SongOfWizardry Fandom: The Mighty Nein Ship: Genfic Rating: T Length: Oneshot Website: Ao3 link here My Rec:

A post-canon Caduceus fic where he comes to terms with the long, long years alone in the grove. Very sweet and sad, and very relatable.

[thecorvidhoard]

Nests and Cages (series)

Author: LanternWisp, Lysical (Lanternwisp is the primary author here) Fandom: Batman Ship: Genfic (with mentions of pairings) Rating: T overall Length: 75k Complete Website: Ao3 link here My Rec: Nests and Cages is about Jason Todd's return to the Batfamily in a mishmash comic canon that doesn't precisely follow any one continuity but knows a lot about a lot of them. Don't worry if you're not a staunch comics reader, it's not a super lore dense work it's simply very Informed.

I really like N&C. This is one of my favourite JT series of all time. The tone is a good amount of serious without feeling heavy. It's reconciliation fic that feels very realistic - where the compromise is frustrating and annoying, and people get to be mad.

It stays very focused on Jason Todd, which can be hard to do given how involved some of the others are in the story (especially Cass - I love Cass and Steph here.)

[endrae]

Forgot to share this, but finished this Maki-piece just in time for Shoppu!

[ao3commentoftheday]

What constitutes a good Fic Rec list?

I’ll tell you what I look for in a fic rec list and then we’ll see what everyone else thinks is good :)

all one fandom, and if it’s shippy then all the same ship

titles of the fic link over to AO3

include the rating of the fics and a brief description (or the reason why you like it)

tag the authors so they know they’ve been rec’d

I’ve definitely seen fic rec lists with a specific theme to them as well, for example “[ship] hurt/comfort recs” but I’m personally good with just the description and picking from there. 

Do any of you make rec lists? Do you appreciate them? What makes a good list?

[sarking]

Ooh, I love rec lists, but I have fairly different preferences for them:

All one fandom is good, but it doesn’t need to be all one ship. I don’t have anything against multifandom rec lists, but the odds of me being familiar with multiple fandoms on them are slim. The important thing is to be clear about the rec list’s theme before you actually list the recs themselves (e.g. random works I liked, coffee shop AUs in small fandoms, m/m slash in Specific Fandom, etc).

The reason you like it, or the reason you think other people should read it, is absolutely 100% necessary, and ideally it consists of at least a couple sentences (unless it’s a 100-word drabble you’re reccing). Without this, and especially if I don’t know anything about your taste in fic, it’s not any different than skimming a work listing.

If there’s something that you had to overlook while reading the fic, or something that made you hesitate to rec it, mention it! If I know the reccer would usually consider a lack of empty space between paragraphs a dealbreaker, I might be willing to give the fic a go despite the fact bad paragraph spacing is usually also a dealbreaker for me. But if I just click on a link and find a wall of text, I’ll probably back button from not just the work, but possibly the rec list as well.

I think of recs as being for potential readers, not authors, so if I were making a rec list, I wouldn’t tag them. (But I would try to comment on the fic!)

[thecorvidhoard]

Hello! I recently started a fic rec blog so I have some thoughts:

I agree that single-fandom (or theme) blogs are more preferable to find, but think about what you want to run also. I wanted a place to archive all my favourite works, and I definitely don't have the energy for multiple blogs so this blog is multifandom. It's not for you (random folk on tumblr) it's for me (person having fun making the blog)

similarly, think about the maximum amount of effort you can spend on the task and still complete it. It would be nice to create a highly polished blog with a written summary and full tags and clear themeing, but that is actually a lot of work!

I've gone with a bullet point summary of author, rating, fandom, ship and then my own thoughts. You can check out the about pages for more information on how I'm organized.

I disagree strongly on tagging the author for a couple reasons - for one, you then have to go through the effort of finding the author (do yourself a favour and avoid giving yourself additional work)

also because as sarking mentioned, it's good to bring up both flaws and personal taste in a rec that may end up being very rude to mention to an author. If I'm reccing you something with the caveat that I really don't like how [important side character] was handled, it would be super rude to tag the author!

Additionally:

Think about longevity! I publish one rec a day through my queue, which means I don't have a lot published yet, but also means my queue is very full and I can chillax between doing a few recs in a row

if you are doing a specific fandom or ship rec blog, it is entirely possible to actually run out of good fic. Don't rush to publish a whole bunch of works just to keep your blog from looking empty! it'll fill up!

tags are your friend, but they can also be your enemy. Don't go overboard on keeping things organized - again! keep your work manageable!

it's very easy to absolutely burn out on a long term project, set yourself up for success at the start!