Ouroboros Mix recs, part 2
Apr. 10th, 2013 01:27 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
edenfallingI am trying to get a bunch of internet housekeeping tasks done tonight, so... better late than never? (Also, I am sorry, but I am not going to backtrack my links and add author names. I am, at heart, a terribly lazy person and the names are now on the stories themselves in any case.)
Anyway, here are twelve more stories I think you might enjoy. :-)
-----
1. though ii 2ang iin my chaiin2 liike the 2ea (The Mercy of His Means Remix): Or: No one can tell me our fate can't be repaired, Hard Mode.
Eridan/Sollux/Rose. Remix of though ii 2ang iin my chaiin2 liike the 2ea by venusian_eye, 7,400 words.
I don't even know where to start with this story. It's definitely up there on the scale of "most horrifying things I've ever read (in a good way)," but just saying that doesn't nearly do the fic justice. Hmm. I think it's the balance between what's on the page and what seeps around the edges of the words that really makes it work -- and the way those absences mirror the gaps between what the characters say and what seeps around the edges of their interactions.
-----
2. The lies we've led around (Winnipeg debug): Roxy tries to fix Jane. Jane/Roxy. Remix of The Other End of the Rope by signalbeam, 2,200 words.
In which Roxy tries to reverse the brainwashing effects of Jane's tiaratop, and tries, and tries, and tries some more. Strangely humorous despite the bleakness of the premise. (Also, this does a really neat structural trick, where it takes the main premise of the original -- Roxy trying to deprogram Jane -- and turns it from backstory into future-fic.)
-----
3. The Serpent's Tale (Radioactive Midnight Remix): "Someone told me once, before all of this started, that if you didn't dream it meant you were bonkers. Or maybe I heard one time that dreams kept your soul steady and therefore kept you sane.
Nowadays, there's an awful sort of sickness in our city. One that poisons your soul, and steals your dreams and sanity away from you. It goes by the name of “Lord English's curse,” though I don't know why.
I don't know if it's in other places or if it's just this city. But what I do know is it means we go in for weekly dream evaluations, like a regular person with a therapist, only it's my job on the line with my brain constantly being threatened.
I'm a detective, you see.
We're not allowed to be crazy."
-entry from Jane Crocker's private journal
Background Roxy/Calliope. Remix of The Serpent's Tale by dashery, 14,000 words.
It's a noir detective story in a city where a demonic curse destroys people's ability to dream and sends them homicidally insane, starring Jane Crocker doing what Jane does best. Creepy as fuck and not easy to read, but beautifully constructed and relentless in its progression to the only possible end.
-----
4. Less Coffee, More Killing (sex and violence dub): Your superiors think you are the best possible agent for the tough cases, and if they don't quite understand why you have, at your young age, enough skills for any two trolls—well. You tell yourselves that of course most people aren't clever enough to figure you out, and you try to be more smug than furious. Karkat<3<Terezi. Remix of On Murders And The Nightly Ingestion of Coffee by graveExcitement (arachnids), 1,600 words.
Wherein Terezi and Karkat are a talented young legislacerator on the trail of a murderer, a tale that includes several instances of black flirting, an exciting duel, a successful prosecution in the field, and hot bodysharing blackrom porn. Guaranteed to leave you smiling. (Possibly lasciviously, but oh well, these are the risks one shoulders in fandom.)
-----
5. start as you mean to continue: TG: so did it ever occur to you
TG: that maybe i dont actually want your help
TG: newsflash to crazy alien chick
TG: he’s just not that into you
Dave<>Vriska patronswap. Remix of proving to each other that romance is 8oring by roachpatrol, 2,500 words.
Perfect Dave!voice and perfect Vriska!voice (when she feels guilty, she just funnels it into increased determination to carry out her self-aggrandizing plans), and it's lovely to see this completely weird relationship develop organically over the course of the game.
-----
6. Prima Facie (The Exit Strategy Remix) : Neophyte Terezi Pyrope is out for blood; Rose Lalonde, Esq., is out for her next paycheck. It should be a simple murder trial. Rose<3<Terezi, implied past Terezi<3<Vriska. Remix of Rose Lalonde: Space Attorney by CaptainZombri, 6,500 words.
Intrigue, world-building, bizarre courtroom shenanigans, and flawless character voices. Creepy, sad, and hilarious by turns.
-----
7. Late in the Day (When I Grow Up Remix): She’s got dark red lipstick and long dark eyelashes, curled, and accented with perfectly-applied eyeliner. Her eyes are a bit brighter than you thought you’d seen in the vids, but she was putting on a show for them and she’s not doing it for you. You like to think she’s just genuinely happy to see you, like you are to find her sitting at the foot of your bed with Frigglish on her lap. She’s wearing what you can only categorize as a super-banging science suit that hugs her curves that you are impatiently waiting to inherit.
It takes far longer than you’d like to admit before you realize she isn’t your mother.
Roxy dreams of Roxy.
Remix of late in the day by nextian (cosmogyral), 1,400 words.
An amazing character exploration of Roxy Lalonde in two timelines at once.
-----
8. similar motion (the clockwork in your core remix): The game does not discard them. Remix of if it dont speak in tongue by anthrop, 1,400 words.
Dave, Aradia, doomed selves, Weird Time Shit, and a melancholy yet strangely hopeful post-game universe.
-----
9. I Know Of Heaven By The Line At Its Gate (The Cleanup Crew Remix): The Earth looks beautiful, like most things do, before its death. Aradia<>Dave. Remix of if it dont speak in tongue by anthrop, 4,500 words.
More Dave, Aradia, doomed selves, and Weird Time Shit, but this one veers left into a discussion of the line between life and death, a choice to show compassion, and the consequences of so choosing.
-----
10. Ripples: Though her friends insisted otherwise, she knew that her gift of precognition was a curse. It was never clean. There were no constants. Even the variables where mutable within themselves, turning things inside out and upside down until the inexact science of seeing forward became muddied with the countless possibilities. Jade<>Rose. Remix of drawing out the season's stains by nextian (cosmogyral), 2,700 words.
Super pale-romantic Jade and Rose species swap moirallegiance, plus thoughts on precognition, a really nifty fight scene, and hints of fascinating background world-building. Also an adorable cameo by Bec. :-)
-----
11. Distortion Party (She Wants the D(estructio+n o+f the Patriarchy) Remix): She thought they were all working to escape this hellish game. He makes her wonder if she's been thinking wrong. Remix of Mysterium Fidei by tawnyPort, 2,500 words.
Porrim and Gamzee meet in a dream bubble and argue about the relative weight of faith versus works when deciding the worth of a religion. The world-building fleshes out Beforus as a realistic world (not just a paper "utopia"), the characterizations are great, and the slowly ratcheting tension is very well paced.
-----
12. dormez-vous, mon coeur? (the cock-crow remix): Even in the cradle of darkness, Rose Lalonde is Light. Armed with needles of shadow, still she is a beacon against the oncoming storm, and there are those who would carry her banner. Remix of wake up sensible heart by blackouthart, 5,500 words.
Because how often do you get to read a happy Rose story, particularly in the alpha timeline? Also, this is beautiful and wise about the importance of friendship, as well as the work and rewards involved.
-----
I still need to read the two stories I failed to finish before the author reveal, but one is Eridan-centric and I don't care if he's somehow become a fandom woobie, I still think he's an annoying jerk and stupidly boring besides (boring being the much greater sin for a fictional character), and the other looks like it will probably be complicated and somewhat depressing and... I dunno, if I read it and it's fantastic, I may return and add it to this post, but I am kind of recced out for now, particularly since recs are NOT my usual mode of fannish engagement.
Anyway, here are twelve more stories I think you might enjoy. :-)
-----
1. though ii 2ang iin my chaiin2 liike the 2ea (The Mercy of His Means Remix): Or: No one can tell me our fate can't be repaired, Hard Mode.
Eridan/Sollux/Rose. Remix of though ii 2ang iin my chaiin2 liike the 2ea by venusian_eye, 7,400 words.
I don't even know where to start with this story. It's definitely up there on the scale of "most horrifying things I've ever read (in a good way)," but just saying that doesn't nearly do the fic justice. Hmm. I think it's the balance between what's on the page and what seeps around the edges of the words that really makes it work -- and the way those absences mirror the gaps between what the characters say and what seeps around the edges of their interactions.
-----
2. The lies we've led around (Winnipeg debug): Roxy tries to fix Jane. Jane/Roxy. Remix of The Other End of the Rope by signalbeam, 2,200 words.
In which Roxy tries to reverse the brainwashing effects of Jane's tiaratop, and tries, and tries, and tries some more. Strangely humorous despite the bleakness of the premise. (Also, this does a really neat structural trick, where it takes the main premise of the original -- Roxy trying to deprogram Jane -- and turns it from backstory into future-fic.)
-----
3. The Serpent's Tale (Radioactive Midnight Remix): "Someone told me once, before all of this started, that if you didn't dream it meant you were bonkers. Or maybe I heard one time that dreams kept your soul steady and therefore kept you sane.
Nowadays, there's an awful sort of sickness in our city. One that poisons your soul, and steals your dreams and sanity away from you. It goes by the name of “Lord English's curse,” though I don't know why.
I don't know if it's in other places or if it's just this city. But what I do know is it means we go in for weekly dream evaluations, like a regular person with a therapist, only it's my job on the line with my brain constantly being threatened.
I'm a detective, you see.
We're not allowed to be crazy."
-entry from Jane Crocker's private journal
Background Roxy/Calliope. Remix of The Serpent's Tale by dashery, 14,000 words.
It's a noir detective story in a city where a demonic curse destroys people's ability to dream and sends them homicidally insane, starring Jane Crocker doing what Jane does best. Creepy as fuck and not easy to read, but beautifully constructed and relentless in its progression to the only possible end.
-----
4. Less Coffee, More Killing (sex and violence dub): Your superiors think you are the best possible agent for the tough cases, and if they don't quite understand why you have, at your young age, enough skills for any two trolls—well. You tell yourselves that of course most people aren't clever enough to figure you out, and you try to be more smug than furious. Karkat<3<Terezi. Remix of On Murders And The Nightly Ingestion of Coffee by graveExcitement (arachnids), 1,600 words.
Wherein Terezi and Karkat are a talented young legislacerator on the trail of a murderer, a tale that includes several instances of black flirting, an exciting duel, a successful prosecution in the field, and hot bodysharing blackrom porn. Guaranteed to leave you smiling. (Possibly lasciviously, but oh well, these are the risks one shoulders in fandom.)
-----
5. start as you mean to continue: TG: so did it ever occur to you
TG: that maybe i dont actually want your help
TG: newsflash to crazy alien chick
TG: he’s just not that into you
Dave<>Vriska patronswap. Remix of proving to each other that romance is 8oring by roachpatrol, 2,500 words.
Perfect Dave!voice and perfect Vriska!voice (when she feels guilty, she just funnels it into increased determination to carry out her self-aggrandizing plans), and it's lovely to see this completely weird relationship develop organically over the course of the game.
-----
6. Prima Facie (The Exit Strategy Remix) : Neophyte Terezi Pyrope is out for blood; Rose Lalonde, Esq., is out for her next paycheck. It should be a simple murder trial. Rose<3<Terezi, implied past Terezi<3<Vriska. Remix of Rose Lalonde: Space Attorney by CaptainZombri, 6,500 words.
Intrigue, world-building, bizarre courtroom shenanigans, and flawless character voices. Creepy, sad, and hilarious by turns.
-----
7. Late in the Day (When I Grow Up Remix): She’s got dark red lipstick and long dark eyelashes, curled, and accented with perfectly-applied eyeliner. Her eyes are a bit brighter than you thought you’d seen in the vids, but she was putting on a show for them and she’s not doing it for you. You like to think she’s just genuinely happy to see you, like you are to find her sitting at the foot of your bed with Frigglish on her lap. She’s wearing what you can only categorize as a super-banging science suit that hugs her curves that you are impatiently waiting to inherit.
It takes far longer than you’d like to admit before you realize she isn’t your mother.
Roxy dreams of Roxy.
Remix of late in the day by nextian (cosmogyral), 1,400 words.
An amazing character exploration of Roxy Lalonde in two timelines at once.
-----
8. similar motion (the clockwork in your core remix): The game does not discard them. Remix of if it dont speak in tongue by anthrop, 1,400 words.
Dave, Aradia, doomed selves, Weird Time Shit, and a melancholy yet strangely hopeful post-game universe.
-----
9. I Know Of Heaven By The Line At Its Gate (The Cleanup Crew Remix): The Earth looks beautiful, like most things do, before its death. Aradia<>Dave. Remix of if it dont speak in tongue by anthrop, 4,500 words.
More Dave, Aradia, doomed selves, and Weird Time Shit, but this one veers left into a discussion of the line between life and death, a choice to show compassion, and the consequences of so choosing.
-----
10. Ripples: Though her friends insisted otherwise, she knew that her gift of precognition was a curse. It was never clean. There were no constants. Even the variables where mutable within themselves, turning things inside out and upside down until the inexact science of seeing forward became muddied with the countless possibilities. Jade<>Rose. Remix of drawing out the season's stains by nextian (cosmogyral), 2,700 words.
Super pale-romantic Jade and Rose species swap moirallegiance, plus thoughts on precognition, a really nifty fight scene, and hints of fascinating background world-building. Also an adorable cameo by Bec. :-)
-----
11. Distortion Party (She Wants the D(estructio+n o+f the Patriarchy) Remix): She thought they were all working to escape this hellish game. He makes her wonder if she's been thinking wrong. Remix of Mysterium Fidei by tawnyPort, 2,500 words.
Porrim and Gamzee meet in a dream bubble and argue about the relative weight of faith versus works when deciding the worth of a religion. The world-building fleshes out Beforus as a realistic world (not just a paper "utopia"), the characterizations are great, and the slowly ratcheting tension is very well paced.
-----
12. dormez-vous, mon coeur? (the cock-crow remix): Even in the cradle of darkness, Rose Lalonde is Light. Armed with needles of shadow, still she is a beacon against the oncoming storm, and there are those who would carry her banner. Remix of wake up sensible heart by blackouthart, 5,500 words.
Because how often do you get to read a happy Rose story, particularly in the alpha timeline? Also, this is beautiful and wise about the importance of friendship, as well as the work and rewards involved.
-----
I still need to read the two stories I failed to finish before the author reveal, but one is Eridan-centric and I don't care if he's somehow become a fandom woobie, I still think he's an annoying jerk and stupidly boring besides (boring being the much greater sin for a fictional character), and the other looks like it will probably be complicated and somewhat depressing and... I dunno, if I read it and it's fantastic, I may return and add it to this post, but I am kind of recced out for now, particularly since recs are NOT my usual mode of fannish engagement.
