Fic and podfic recs

[luzula]

I have a tendency to save up things I'm looking forward to, but I always make an effort to put this aside when I'm up in the mountains. What better time to read/listen to the things I'm looking forward to? And besides, it's not like there is likely to be a future scarcity of good fanworks, or like I don't enjoy re-reading/re-listening. So, here are some recs for things I've enjoyed:

Victoria's Daughter, by desireearmfeldt (due South, mostly gen, 45,000 words)
I don't want to reveal too much of the plot here, but this story involves Fraser and Victoria's daughter being torn between the two sides of her heritage and trying to find out what the truth really is. And wow, it does such a good job of fucking with the characters' heads! It also has some great use of canon-like magical realism, and I love the older Ray Kowalski in the story. If you can't stand WIP:s that end in cliffhangers, though, this might not be for you, since this is just the first part of the story. Also note that it's a deathfic: Fraser is dead, although still present as a ghost.

Throwing Pebbles, by Heather/darlas_mom (due South, Ray K/Stella, 45,000 words)
This is the continuation of the adorable pre-teen Ray/Stella story On A Balcony in Summer Air, and it has now become my head-canon for the two of them. It's wonderful to see them as teenages in love, and to see their loyalty to and trust in each other. The other thing I love about this story is Stella and Barbara Kowalski together. Canon tells us that they're close, but this story shows it, and they have some great scenes together. Barbara is awesome! And in general, if you want to see an exploration of what the Kowalski family might've been like, this story is also for you.

To Blame the Devil, by Kalliste, read by chemm80 (Generation Kill, Brad/Nate)
This is a delicious long genderswap podfic which I enjoyed hugely. I do love it when tropes are taken seriously, and all their implications are explored. (By the way, why do we call it genderswap? I mean, people's gender orientations are usually kept the same in this trope, and only their physical bodies are changed. Hmm.) Anyway, there's a great plot-relevant mechanism for the genderswap here, and the way it plays into the love story is just really emotionally satisfying. And the reading is great! It really drew me into the story.

On Solitude, by toft (Aubrey-Maturin series, gen)
I...think this may be my favorite Aubrey-Maturin fic ever. The seemingly effortless way that toft captures O'Brian's prose style, the delightful little details (the malevolent goat!), the subversion of the soulbond trope, and most of all, the relationship between Jack and Stephen. I've never really shipped them in the romantic or sexual sense, but I absolutely love their close canonical relationship, and this, this is entirely how they would react to a soulbond. I can't recommend this enough.

The Blog of Eugenia Watson, written by madlorific, read by lunchee (Sherlock BBC, mostly OFC-centric, over ten hours)
I'm not really in this fandom, and this is about an original character besides, but Lunchee makes me want to listen to hours and hours about the teenage Eugenia Watson, who is the daughter of John and an OFC (and Sherlock, by adoption). She just makes the character completely come to life and captures her personality and makes you care about her from the start. I do like that Eugenia's mom has a major role in the fic, too.

Comments

Genderswap

[joatamon]

Good question!

Just to make an attempt at defining terms: firstly, there's "bodyswap" which is used when two or more characters swap bodies, which may or may not involve a change in sex.

As far as I know (and corect me if I'm wrong!) there are two kinds of genderswap story: the type where someone wakes up in a different body (in which case you're dead right that their gender identity stays the same, at least at first - so sexswap would be more applicable) and the 'always-a-girl/boy' story, in which case the gender does change.

Perhaps these have just been accidentally conflated over time? Or the always-a-girl type was the first past the post and so the term genderswap got used for both gender- and later sex-swap stories without acknowledging any nuance? (Although I do see the 'always a girl' tag used a lot now even when 'genderswap' is also used, so people are defining those terms a little better.) It makes me think about the generic use of 'alternate universe' for slightly different types of fic.

I'm in favour of more generic labels, if I'm honest. Particularly when it comes to 'alternate universe'. But the gender/sex-swap thing does present particular problems: for trans people, for example, who could definitely do without people confusing those terms.

Bodyswap would be a better umbrella term for all kinds of body/sex/gender change fics, if generic labels are desirable?

Ugh, past my bedtime. I hope this makes sense.

Re: Genderswap

[luzula]

Well, on reflection, I think the term "sexswap" is not used because 1) it's awkward to say, because of those "s" sounds in close proximity, and 2) the word "sex" is ambiguous, so it can sound like it's about two people swapping sexual favors.

But yeah, I wasn't out to change any terms or anything, just musing about why we say what we say (especially because in the fic I recced, Brad's gender is most emphatically not changed, and he never gets comfortable with his female body). Genderswap does have a pretty established meaning, even if on the face of it the word is a bit strange.

Re: Genderswap

[mific]

And have you listened to Dira's Don't You Shake Alone - Nate/Brad kidfic, also read by chemm80 - it's so great.

Re: Genderswap

[luzula]

Not yet! I'm still saving it up. : )

Re: Genderswap

[joatamon]

Sexswap, lol, yes: I also found myself typing 'sex-change' fics when writing my comment, and had to delete that phrase for obvious reasons.

Fair to say genderswap might be the lesser of those evils *g*

[riverlight]

Oh, what fun! Thanks so much for the links. I just read On Solitude, and how marvellous! I so admire toft's ability to get the O'Brian voice—she really does it so perfectly.

[luzula]

Oh, my job is done! I always think "but surely everyone has already read these?" when I rec, and I am delighted that I actually brought something new to someone. : )

[noeon.livejournal.com]

\0/ recs!

I love seeing recs across several fandoms. And yes, the pommederis fic is soooo good.

[luzula]

I'm glad you liked the recs! And yeah, sometimes you read/listen something that really brings you back to how much you love a fandom, and that one did that for me.