due South Recs Redux

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So when I said we would visit new planets, I forgot that first I had these other recs to post. Which are all set on Earth, mostly, maybe, although there is a House that defies physics and a brief argument between Thatcher and God.

There are no geese, but if you find that sort of thing interesting (and you should, because it's AWESOME) you must go read [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com]'s Don't Drink, Don't Smoke (What Do You Do), a dS/Hot Fuzz crossover. It features Ray's lost passport, an angry swan, and a Fraser who is officially if temporarily dead after a slight misunderstanding with the Canadian High Commission.


( In which this does not count as a rec, even though I strongly suggest that you go read this story right this minute. )


Ahem. And now I have a few other suggestions. If you're looking for something to read. (Hey, we're fans. When are we NOT looking for things to read?

First person to comment with "when we're busy writing for NaNoWriMo" gets a very strongly worded rant about the importance of balancing one's life and taking time to do other things, so don't start with me. This is my year, people, and the fact that I'm already behind is meaningless.)


1. Homicide: Life on the Streets.

I had (okay, have) the biggest crush on Tim Bayliss. He's smart, he's sensitive, he's trying very, very hard to be zen. He screws up, he gets pissed, he tries again. He wants things he can't have, and eventually he breaks a little bit. Okay, a lot.

It's a fantastic show, and if you haven't seen it, you should. There's a full series box set (The perfect gift for the fangrrl who has everything? Television on DVD!), and a movie, and a metric fuckton of crossover episodes with Law & Order.

Not convinced? Really?

Here, have a fic in which Bayliss finally meets the right guy, thanks to Fraser and Ray and with no help at all from Francesca.

(FWIW, Bayliss is wrong about the 401, because the Beltway traffic would eat that road for breakfast and then have the 404 as a midmorning snack. I'll take the 404 during rush hour over the Beltway on a Sunday afternoon anytime.)


Unionville, by umbo. R, F/K, Bayliss/Smithbauer. And the sequel ficlet, Compassion. Bayliss/Smithbauer, R.


( In which there is a mugging, and then a robbery, and then a car theft. And then Tim Bayliss goes to a wedding and meets a former hockey player. )


2. House of Leaves.

It would seem that I have an affinity for things that are bigger on the inside. Or for evil disguised as something wholesome. Or possibly both at the same time, with an added dash of meddling ghosts.

All of that aside, this is the clearest example that I can imagine for the argument that crossovers, when done well, are somehow better than either fandom on its own. Because this fic gains so much from the book that it is based in, all of the twists and characters and related stories and complications, and it becomes richer than the book because of the layered history that I (and many of you) have with the main characters. If there were one story that I would love to see turned into an entire universe of things written by all the fannish authors I love best, it would be this.


The Fraser Record (Excerpts), by custardpringle. F/K-ish, R.


( In which there is a House. )


3. Monty Python.

Yep. You read that right. Think of it as a cracktastic chaser for the unsettling experimentalism of the previous rec.

It turns out that Ray was right, after all. It was a quest for the Holy Grill. Also, there is never a Kmart's around when you need one.


Monty Python and the Holy Grill, by snowee. Gen, G-ish.


( In which there is SPAM. Spam, spam, spam, spam... )



Dear Mods,

May I make one more post? Pretty please? I promise it contains no Sentinel badfic. It's just that I have three four more stories to rec, and if I put them in this post it'll look all off-balance and stuff. Plus it wouldn't be fair to make any of the remaining recs follow Monty Python. The authors might get smited or something. I don't want to be responsible for people being smitten. Er. Smited.


♥,

Omphale

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*screeches in late as usual*

Um. Hi! Let's all just pretend that it's Monday. shall we? As in last Monday, when I started writing this post.

I'm omphale23, and for whatever crazy reason the mods have entrusted me with a whole week of reccing! Which I will now condense to three days, because that's the sort of thing I do. I'm quirky. People get used to it. I'm told it can sometimes be endearing, although I'm pretty sure that's not the adjective that first comes to mind.

Ahem.

My theme, because I always have a theme, is crossover fic. It was originally going to be unreliable narrators, but it turns out I already did that post somewhere else, and so instead I bring you…fantastic fics that feature our favorite characters interacting with other fantastic fandoms.

(For the record? That was six words starting with F. Which is the sixth letter of the alphabet. That banging you hear is the sound of slidellra headdesking repeatedly and then defriending me.)

Anyway. Crossovers! Because while it's wonderful to see our boys (and girls) hanging out in Chicago or Canada, or Vegas (well, maybe not Vegas, what with the whole Mob thing. How about Boise, instead?) it's also awesome when they get to go other places and live other lives and maybe even have wacky conversations with other characters. I love a good crossover, and I even sometimes love a bad one. You should, too!

(I make no promises that Sentinel fic will not appear somewhere this week. For I am weak, and have been known to go for the cheap thrill of kidnapping and magical moose.)

Up first, though, are some stories that feature characters coming to visit the Mountie and his Ray(s) on their home turf. For whatever reason, they bring rather a lot of magic and mayhem and mystery along for the ride.


1. The Dresden Files

Harry Dresden. Angsty. Handsome. Well-intentioned.

He carries a hockey stick, is a cranky police consultant, and lives in Chicago. Harry, who certainly doesn't remind me of a character with the initials BF or of anyone named Ray, is a wizard with a tendency to get involved in very weird situations.

Oh, and he's being haunted by an advice-giving ghost named Bob.


Love Spell, by sam80853. F/K, R.


( In which someone casts a spell on Fraser )


2. HP Lovecraft, who is a person and not a fandom. Possibly he's both.

He wrote about monsters and gods and the universe and horror and the fundamental inexplicableness of almost everything we can imagine, and a few things we can't. He wrote about evil from times so long ago that we can't remember them, and fate. He was, on many occasions, a racist, classist, misogynist prat. Also, The Mountain Goats wrote a song about him.

And yet below the cut you will find some funny, funny apocalyptic shenanigans.


In the Sewers He Lies Dreaming, by spuffyduds. No pairing, R.


( In which Ray and Fraser meet a monster. )


3. Newford.

Which, again, is not so much a fandom as it is an imaginary place in which very strange things are commonplace. It is either American or Canadian or possibly neither and both, and was invented by Charles de Lint. For reasons that don't need exploring at this juncture, several of Newford's inhabitants are currently in a rundown hotel that may or may not be in Chicago.

It totally makes sense in context.


O'Leary's Hotel, by J Hardin. F/K, PG.


( In which there is violence, and also healing. )


Right. That should get you started. I'll be back tomorrow (Er. Later today) with another set. They might feature exotic locales and robots. Or Jack Harkness.