Not on a Thursday recs

[sholio]

A scattering of fic from different fandoms: Torchwood (unsurprisingly heavy on the Owen h/c), Defenders, Detroit: Become Human, Cobra Kai, Expanse (season 4 spoilers; I put it at the end for easy avoidance).


Torchwood:

I recently read several really enjoyable Owen-centric Torchwood fics by Echo. They're all older, from LJ; all these are gen, focused on Owen and Jack.

Frames of Reference
Sweet post-undeath fic with Owen trying to deal with his undead state and a bit of caretaking from Jack.

One Step at a Time
Painful but sweet future fic in which the Doctor rescued Owen from the power plant but wouldn't let him change anything.

Unknown Quantities
Post-Day in the Death fic; a conversation between Owen and Jack about immortality.

This author also writes sweet Owen/Ianto; you can find this tagged at their LJ.


Other Torchwood:

Walking Wounded by songspinner (gen, Owen & Jack & team)
Post-Kiss Kiss Bang Bang with some follow-up for Owen being shot and Jack settling back into the team dynamic.

Salve and Plasters by radioshack84 (Jack & Owen mostly)
"End of Days" missing scene just after the big action at the end with some mutual patching up and comfort.


Misc. fandoms:

Secret Santa at the Royal Dragon by Jaune_Chat (Defenders, team gen, 1700 wds)
Danny decides that everyone needs a team secret santa. Super adorable.

Rite of Exorcism by partingxshot (Detroit: Become Human, Hank & Connor gen, 80K)
I don't even go here! All I know about this game is some walkthroughs and a general sense of who the characters are. Unfortunately Hank and Connor are basically my id's catnip and I do read fic for them every now and then. I don't think I would have tried this one if I'd realized I was clicking on something novel-sized, but TOO LATE, and it was fantastic, a deep dive into iddy h/c that I haven't had in a while. General plot: android character is taken over by evil AI (this is essentially a fix for one of the game's "bad" endings), and his friend tries to get him back.

bells by saltsanford (Cobra Kai, gen, season 3 finale tag, 4600 wds)
Really excellent, in-character hurt/comforty tag after the big fight scene in the finale. I love how this writer handles the characters with equal sympathy all around.



Bad At Dying by Spot991 (The Expanse, Miller AI + Roci crew, 3K wds)
Technically bookverse (written before season 4) but works just fine for the show with a few minor detail tweaks. It turns out that Miller 2.0 survived Ilus by taking refuge in the Roci's computer. It's a neat idea that I wouldn't mind being canon.

Comments

[mific]

Loved the Expanse one!

[sholio]

I'm glad!! It's such a neat idea. :D

[sovay]

A scattering of fic from different fandoms

Thanks for the links!

I don't even go here! All I know about this game is some walkthroughs and a general sense of who the characters are. Unfortunately Hank and Connor are basically my id's catnip

Since I'd never even heard of this game, should I ask why, or should I just read the novel?

[sholio]

I figured the Torchwood ones might be relevant to your interests!

Since I'd never even heard of this game, should I ask why, or should I just read the novel?

Ah. Hmm. So basically this is a game that magistrate introduced me to via the walkthroughs and with a lot of caveats about the storyline. The game uses androids as an anvil-subtle and often terribly written civil rights metaphor; it's all about the android revolution in a dystopic-future Detroit.

Hank and Connor are a typical stock pair of characters in one of the game's main storylines: a burned out alcoholic cop who hates androids, for the usual contrived reasons in this sort of scenario, and his naive, idealistic android partner learning to have feelings about things.

Regrettably for my ability to not have emotions about this, Hank is played by Clancy Brown (as both the character model and the voice actor), apparently improv'd a lot of his character's dialogue, and is basically absolutely charming in a "scruffy asshole" kind of way, as well as by far the best voice actor in the game. Since Connor is the player character in this storyline and Hank is an NPC, the player's choices pull him closer to Hank or push him further away, occasionally getting one or both of them killed in some story paths, but in general, making friends with Hank early in the game unlocks better options and happier endings for both of them down the road.

A few of their scenes from the game:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVEPpwqQh5k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1j3eNWfL7E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VCmL3acnk8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLH9X7WE3ZI

IT'S ALL LIKE THIS. They banter. They protect each other, or alternatively fail to - there are several variants where Hank gets Connor killed and/or commits suicide. They point guns at each other. Their entire storyline is all about conflicting loyalties and making friends.

It's not really something where I do more than read an occasional short fanfic, since I haven't played the game, but it's a big enough fandom to perennially show up in exchanges and that kind of thing. I think I ran across the above from a rec somewhere, started reading it without realizing how long it was, and ended up completely hooked.