Keep Hoping Machine Running

(I apologize for the title, especially if you've now got the source of it stuck in your head. I'm not a big fan of the poem, either - actually, it sort of makes me gag - but it was all I could think of. If you've got an idea for a better title, I'd love to hear about it.)

Today I have for you stories from small fandoms. Tiny fandoms. You may not actually read all of these fandoms. You may not read any of these fandoms, or even believe there's fic in these fandoms. But you should read these stories anyway, because when someone writes a story for a small, small fandom, it's like divine madness overtakes her. There's inspiration, and then there's Inspiration, and it turns out you find the latter most often in stories from canons you've never even imagined fan fiction for.

Best FF That Features a Cookbook I'm Now Entirely Sure Is in Existence, Even If Pratchett Is Too Polite to Mention It: Concurrence, by debchan. Terry Pratchett's Discworld, Rincewind/Greebo. (Note: you will probably need to know the Discworld series in order to comprehend this story. But if you haven't read the early Discworld stuff, be ashamed. And then go buy them immediately. For this story, you'll want The Color of Magic, The Light Fantastic, and Wyrd Sisters, at minimum, but you should also get Guards, Guards. Because that one is the best one ever. And if someone reads Guards, Guards and decides to slash Carrot and the Patrician, I will be forever sickeningly grateful. Or maybe I mean sickened, but grateful. Whichever.) When I first saw the pairing on this story, I decided debchan was clinically insane. I'm not entirely convinced I was wrong. But it is a delightful insanity, one that could a) conclude that a wizard having sex with a cat even though the two never once appeared in the same novel was a good idea, and then b) make that concept work. We should all be lucky enough to be crazy in this way.

Best FF That Proves That Publishers Should Check the Internet Prior to Paying Authors to Destroy Noble Canons, and If You Don't Know What I Mean by This, You Are Very, Very Lucky: Ring Out, Wild Bells, To The Wild Sky, by keswindhover. Dorothy L. Sayers's Lord Peter Wimsey series, Harriet Vane/Lord Peter Wimsey. It's...het. It's canon het. It's non-explicit canon het. I feel so dirty, recommending this. But here's the thing. It's good, good, good. This story healed the injury that Jill Paton Walsh's horrible Sayers pastiche (I only read the one, although I understand there are others) left on my soul. Think I'm exaggerating? Clearly you've never read the book in question. In any case, this story is a masterpiece. I believe in this outcome for Harriet and Lord Peter and St. George; for me, forever, this will be what they did during WWII. I have to thank Genibee (who does not have a LJ, but should) for making me read this story. I couldn't have faced it without her firm recommendation. Because this is the kind of thing that can only be perfect or abominable. And, hey, guess what? It's perfect. Imagine my surprise.

Best FF Featuring the World's Sexiest Use of Mathematics: Written Proofs, by shrift. Ultimate Fantastic Four, Victor Van Damme/Reed Richards. Here is my proof that I can actually recommend stories from small fandoms that aren't small book fandoms. Yes, because this is...a small comic book fandom. Well, look, any English teacher on this planet will tell you that there is a world of difference between a novel and a graphic novel. In any case, there's oodles of tension between Reed and Victor in the canon, and we all know how that leads to excellent slash. Beyond that...look, it's superhero porn. There's nothing better than superhero porn, unless it is superhero porn that contains sexy science, and sexy science obsession. And nothing says "sexy science obsession" like Reed/Victor. I hope I have made a sufficient case for reading this story. I also hope I haven't, um, scared away the people who don't find chemistry humor hysterical. Come back, y'all! A science-free rec follows!

Best FF That Reads Exactly Like a Newly-Discovered Missing Chapter from the Canon: The Dancer from the Dance, by daegaer. The Persian Boy (by Mary Renault), Bagoas. Again, you'll need to know the book to read the story, but again - if you haven't read this book, why not? And you call yourself a slash fan! The Persian Boy is RPS in book format, and it's canon RPS, if I can call it that. You will definitely want to read TPB before Oliver Stone's atrocity Alexander comes out, and if you doubt that it will be an atrocity, just watch the trailer. It had me muttering and ranting for days. So, you know, getting back to this story, let me just say that it is perfect and I love it and it is so right for Bagoas. And I also think that Mary Renault would love it. And probably Alexander and Bagoas would, too. And so will you.

Best FF Featuring a White-Haired Entity of Unknown Origin Engaging in an Extremely Human Behavior. And That Behavior Is Not Smutty. Though I Wish It Was.: Peace.keep.er, by Mooncalf, aka tsukikoushi. Xenosaga: Der Wille Zur Macht, Chaos-oriented gen or possibly slash, in which case the slash would be Chaos/Tony. And those of you who have played the game will right now be wondering why I'm capitalizing Chaos. Well, I thought it would save confusion, especially for those who have not played the game, who might end up thinking that this is a story about the force of entropy and disarray. (And they would not be entirely wrong, would they?) This is a Special Bonus Nomination, included because it will be of interest only to people who have actually played the sprawling, delightful insanity that is the video game Xenosaga, and I'm guessing that's just me and my Best Beloved. This is about one of my favorite dang characters from said video game. Who I really hope will be better explained in the subsequent installments of this game, because there's a lot about him that's not entirely clear. Like his species, his origin, his purpose, his...well, everything. Mooncalf clearly understands him, though. Maybe she should write the next episode of Xenosaga.