Epic Recs
Epic-Recs on Livejournal specializes in reccing long, well written fics. Recs are generally posted at least once a day, seven days a week. -- In December we take a break, and reccing is optional only. Our normal reccing schedule resumes each January 1.
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Summary
This kinkme_merlin prompt: Arthur and Merlin have a casual sex-only relationship per Arthur’s request. But, once Merlin breaks it off to pursue something more meaningful, Arthur realizes that he has fallen in love with Merlin. So my summary goes something like: Arthur is a dumbass, but gets a little better by the end. Rinse and repeat.
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Bookmarked by mothlights
25 Jan 2013
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It's a canon era getting-together story that starts with a breakup. I've read this several times, and what I love most about it is the way shes_gone makes it clear how both characters feel, even when they can't communicate or even pin it down themselves. It makes for understated pining, and you knowing more than Arthur, who's oblivious to the times when Merlin's talking about him. -- epic-recs.livejournal.com
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Bookmarked by mothlights
14 Jul 2013
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Sara's Girl makes all moments engaging, from betting dessert over who had the worst shift at the hospital, to stopping a murderer, and from office supplies (how does she make even that warm and inviting?!) to getting Draco Malfoy to open up to something more with Harry Potter.
I love that this starts with a believable amount of antagonism between them, and that the forced proximity of Harry working under Draco in ChemDep allows for greater understanding. I love that Sara's Girl gives every moment care and attention in a way that makes you feel you're there. Draco is reserved but much mellowed underneath due to all he's been through. Harry didn't like it as an Auror trainee, but is just right becoming a Healer and getting on with his life. Narcissa is wonderfully written, as are the brilliant original characters, and Hermione, Ron, and Ginny....
After I enjoyed Reparations, it surprised me that I loved its sequel, Foundations, even more...
I read her work, and I think, yes, I want to listen more and find the best in people, even when it isn't easy or comfortable. I can't ask for much more than that.
--epic-recs.livejournal.com
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Summary
He impulsively broke the covenant, then remade it. But can the trust, once shattered, be recovered? Sebastian must work twice as hard to rebuild what he briefly discarded. Shotacon, yaoi. Begins at the end of the anime's first season. Some divergence from anime plot, with elements from the manga.
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- English
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- 208,816
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- 39/39
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Bookmarked by Piscaria
06 Aug 2014
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The trust between demon and master is shattered when Sebastian breaks the terms of their contract. As Ciel and Sebastian struggle to find peace within their new contract, a case brings them deeper into the world of the supernatural. "Devilish Impulses" ignores the second anime series, instead envisioning a future beyond the end of series 1. The dynamics between Ciel and Sebastian capture everything I love about their relationship. This is a Ciel who is struggling to find a reason to live now that his revenge is carried out, but who still has his pride and his cold ease in dealing with London's criminal (and supernatural) underworld. And Sebastian is still a demon, wrestling with his surprising new feelings for his Ciel, along with the old devilish impulses to hurt him.
A few things in this story might throw some readers off, though I saw them as icing on the cake. First, obviously, is the underage relationship. Underage fic doesn't bother me in this fandom because, despite his physical age, I have never seen Ciel as a child. After all, not many boys are capable of policing London's underworld, with or without the help of a demon! But I think even readers who are more wary about underage relationships might appreciate how this one is handled. In this story, Ciel is the one who advocates to move forward with a physical relationship, while Sebastian keeps throwing on the brakes, insisting they have time to wait for certain things until Ciel is older. It made a big difference in the relationship dynamics of the story. Second, the hurt/comfort is laid on thick. Prepare for many long, loving descriptions of Sebastian tending to Ciel's wounds and looking after him during a long illness. For me, that's a selling point, but I get that other readers like their h/c more understated. And third, the writing in this story is very lush. The long sentences and occasional epithet threw me off a bit as I started reading, but there's so little long Kuroshitsuji fic that I pushed past it, and I'm glad I did. I'm now inclined to look at the prose as an homage to the writing style of the time period -- this sort of prose is far more at home in a pseudo 19th-century world of Kuroshitsuji than in something like Teen Wolf.
In the end, "Devilish Impulses" stands out as one of the best Kuroshitsuji fics I've read. I loved how the author handled the long format -- it reads more as a novel than the typical long fic does. I also loved the theology the author introduced to the canon. Finally, I loved watching Sebastian and Ciel mend the broken trust between them, emerging on the other end stronger and closer than ever. Certain scenes in this fic have been running through my head more or less constantly since I read it, and I know it won't be long before I give in and read the whole thing over again
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Summary
Five sweeps after a powerful young psionic yellow-blood named Sollux Captor disappeared from his respiteblock, a certain violet-blood recruit boards the prestigious service of the Condesce's foremost battleship after taking out the )(eiress. That certain violet-blood proceeds to fuck everything up.
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Summary
A traumatised war hero and a convicted criminal under the roof of an eccentric journalist make for a rather odd ensemble, but Luna has never had a problem with oddities as long as they make sense.
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Bookmarked by mothlights
07 Feb 2013
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First Harry and then Draco, both at loose ends and somewhat desperate after the war, wind up taking refuge at Luna's house. Luna may as well have brought in tomcats for all the fighting they do at first, but she's terrific as the calm in the middle of their storm... There's something beautiful here too, about Harry and Draco hitting rock bottom and finding new purpose, about Luna's generous and quirky calm, and about moving from anger to understanding. -- epic-recs.livejournal.com