DPP - Fanfic is to shipping as ...

[nazkey.livejournal.com]

... Peanut butter is to jelly?

Now that we know why you all ship, let's get down to the serious business of fanfic, because really, what's a shipper without fanfic?

I know we've done this before, but I admit that as a relative newbie, I personally cannot get enough fic recs. Between fanfiction.net, LJ, AO3 and god knows how many other sites, this is a bottomless pit and I KNOW that there are some fics that haven't been rec'd before.

I am going to change it up a little bit though and provide some rules:

1. All rec's should be your own personal, absolute, 100% "go-to" fic. In other words, these are fics that you read and re-read often and please provide a brief explanation of why they are your fave/go-to fics.

2. All rec's must have a K/L ship and/or reference. Fics that are just about Kara or Lee are okay too. We are, after all, all about the Pilots here :-)

3. There are no limits to the number of fics you can rec. In fact, the more the merrier.

4. NO RPF's please (there's a reason for this rule ... trust me.)

5. WIP's are allowed.

6. Any and all ratings are acceptable. We're all consenting adults here ;-)

To help jog your memories a bit, I've come up with some standard categories here. You don't have to rec a fic for each category. They're just here as a guide.

1. Angst
2. AU
3. Crack
4. Crossover
5. Fluff
6. Funny/Humorous
7. Introspective
8. Pilot!Banter
9. Romance
10. Smut

**BONUS: What was the VERY FIRST fic you read that dragged you into the rabbit hole of the K/L ship?

I'll post my list at the end of the day because I'm almost positive all of my fave's are going to show up in your comments at some point :-)

So come on! Pull out your list of bookmarks and let the rec'ing begin!

Comments

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

I have so many favorites, it's ridiculous. So many are pre-series AU stories about Kara and Lee during the Academy and Zak eras -- I go back to these stories the most. I love the combination of anguish and passion and friendship and restraint and banter and yearning, I love watching Kara and Lee get to know each other, and whether they're desperately sad or hilariously funny, or more often both, they really appeal to my personal romantic sensibilities. And they tend to end, not with resolution, but with an open door. These are some of the best in that huge sub-genre, in my opinion:

Rivals (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3531406/1/bRivals_b) by Lint -- This is about Lee meeting Kara when they are each the star player on their respective opposing pyramid teams in high school, but it's so much more than that. The author just nails the characters' voices, and the moments of painful insight Lee has into Kara's brokenness are unforgettable.

Wet, Hot Caprican Summer (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3638340/1/Wet_Hot_Caprican_Summer) by Lint -- Kara and Lee meet in a library when Kara cusses out a fellow patron, and they spend the summer going on not-quite-dates to places like the Delphic Art Institute, and somehow it works and feels perfectly, perfectly them. The Kara voice in this story is gorgeous, such a genuine mixture of defiant confidence and insecurity, and Lee's sneaky diplomacy shines through in so many small ways. Bonus points for a rare instance of Socrata and Lee interaction that feels absolutely real. And there's even a happy ending. I love it so much.

As Friends (http://hobviously.livejournal.com/135675.html) by hobviously -- The first of the glorious Caprica High series. I will never stop laughing with insane joy every time Lee takes Kara dancing. "I wish we were both dead," he gritted, "as friends."

Polish the Stars (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3539249/1/Polish_the_Stars) by settler -- Sadly, this is an unfinished story, and the author has just deleted her LJ journal, but most of what she wrote is still up over at fanfiction.net. I urge anyone who hasn't read it to do it now before it's too late. It's historian Lee, tutoring Kara and gradually losing his sense of perspective. It's the most delightful young Lee voice I've ever encountered, so insightful and funny and yet also messed-up and serious and penitent and above all, complicated. It lifts me up.

Our Pataphysical Divigation (http://mercurial-wit.livejournal.com/34490.html) by mercurial_wit -- The best meditation on Kara and Lee's approach to their own legend. It explores what it means to be the people who carry the image of Adamas or Apollos or Starbucks, the way reality and rumor and human frailties get mixed up with each other in exhausting but beautiful ways.

All feelings but this one (http://stars-like-dust.livejournal.com/166026.html#cutid1) by claira (stars_like_dust) -- I find this the most realistic of all the imagined Lee and Kara during the Zak era scenarios. It's subtle and sad in such an everyday, ordinary way. Kara's perspective on Lee and Zak is really marvellous. And the moment she tells Lee that he has everything Zak's ever wanted, and he just looks at her and says nothing; it packs a punch.

One Taste of the Apple (http://brynnmck.livejournal.com/32749.html) by brynnmck -- Everything she writes about Academy!pilots is great, but this one is my favorite. The descriptions are so vivid, and Kara's emotions are so real I'm on the roller coaster with her all the way.

In the months after his death (http://sangga.livejournal.com/877.html#cutid1) by sangga -- An incredible examination of Kara's grief over Zak through Lee's eyes, and his own sudden and uncontrollable discovery of passionate feelings for her. I think what I love the most about it is the CAG-like tone Lee adopts through much of the story. I see the strength in him, but also the ways he can't say no to her. And Kara herself is mesmerizing in her pain.

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

Pre-series AUs aren't the only thing I read, though! Here's a grab-bag of other favorites:

Stimmed (http://anr.livejournal.com/190007.html) by anr -- I don't know why I love this so much; it's simple and criss-crossed and pragmatic and full of UST, and yet the most realistic "33" snapshot I think I've seen, though there are many great contenders.

Aurora (http://anr.livejournal.com/245100.html) by anr -- A death fic, but an astoundingly in-character and satisfying one.

Gold to Iron (http://mercurial-wit.livejournal.com/35835.html#cutid1) by fayhe and claira -- Five first kisses after Unfinished Business. They're all haunting, but the last one is *exactly* how I wish the storyline had gone in canon. It's my wish-fulfillment fic.

Supply and demand (<http://sangga.livejournal.com/6621.html#cutid1) by sangga -- I love it because it's a story about why the details of life are so tremendously important, and it gets the details so unbelievably right. I cherish the image of Lee standing in a hallway, watching Kara and Sharon doing a silly little dance next to a beat-up radio and realizing that this is what makes life worth living. And the oranges. Enough said.

Amateur (http://mercurial-wit.livejournal.com/30990.html) by fayhe -- This gets us out of the Quadrangle with absolute respect for all parties, and it gives Kara and Lee the happiness I most wanted to see for them. I love that Sam looks at them together and thinks that they don't seem as exciting as you'd expect but they do seem real. And one of my favorite parts is actually Dee's beautiful smile when she works things out with Billy, and Sam's sense of satisfaction at being recognized as his own person.

Six Swans (http://innibis.livejournal.com/46658.html) by innibis -- my favorite of the fairytales so far. It builds the world so deeply, and it's fascinating to watch Lee get to know Kara without words, and it just sings with the extraordinary strength of these two as individuals and as lovers.

[nazkey.livejournal.com]

Awesome rec's Rachel! Thanks for sharing. There is a bunch here that I haven't even heard of!

BTW, Amateur is one of my all-time fave's.

[shah-of-blah.livejournal.com]

I'm gonna try to do like a 'top ten' thing because I have a ton of fic bookmarked.

1. Icarus (http://community.livejournal.com/beyond_insane/769384.html) by wisteria_: Once upon a time this was my favorite wisteria story (then Reality and Immortality challenged it) but it remains near and dear to my heart for a) Kara's incredible reclamation of self and destiny, and b) wisteria's amazing prose. "Kara Thrace and her big damn destiny." Oh gosh, it gets me every time.

2. all feeling but this one (http://stars-like-dust.livejournal.com/166157.html) by claira: Maybe my favorite story that deals with Lee, Zak, and Kara. I come out of it shipping Kara/Zak, and very sad about it, but there are also some lovely moments of connection and disconnection between Kara and Lee.

3. Those Journeymen Divine (http://mercurial-wit.livejournal.com/36669.html) by fahye and claira: The best 'they're cylons!' story ever. Because they're not magically good cylons who want to be human. They're just Lee and Kara.

4. Angle of Descent (http://daphnaea.livejournal.com/3287.html) by daphnaea: Because there was a point in canon when I felt like this could have been true. And because the second time they frak is so deliciously angsty. And because it's daphnaea, and everything she writes is gorgeous.

5. Ill-Conceived (http://becisvolatile.livejournal.com/106257.html) by becisvolatile and angylinni: I shall quote here the summary. Of all the things Kara Thrace expected from her life, being a mother wasn't one of them. As special destinies went, this one sucked tailpipe.

6. Hellfire (http://community.livejournal.com/summers_fling/4753.html) by resolute: This one's all Kara. It's about her childhood and her complicated relationship with her mother and how she finds comfort in imaginary heroes (the X-Men, to be specific).

7. Supply and Demand (http://sangga.livejournal.com/6621.html) by sangga: Now I know Rachel already mentioned this one, but I have to mention it again because I kind of think this is my favorite BSG fic. Really. It's such a well-crafted story, with so many delightful details and insights. And it's so in keeping with the show, all about how you can keep on living after the end of the world.

8. All I need is the air that I breathe (and to love you) (http://fadingphantom.livejournal.com/9890.html) by fadingphantom: Because it's beautiful and so sad. I will just quote: He can’t breathe suddenly, because he can’t believe that he let her go thinking she was anything less than his whole world.

9. Circumstance (http://elly427.livejournal.com/157828.html) by elly427: This is a remix of elzed's also wonderful Decline and Fall, but elly gives us Zak's perspective on things. And I love it so. She turns Zak into a real character, and we get those beautiful and sad little glimpses of his life with Kara. And then the ending. The ending.

10. denial (http://anr.livejournal.com/252187.html) by anr: I won't say anything about this fic except that you should read it now if you haven't already.

Whew, it's taken ages to write this whole thing.

[nazkey.livejournal.com]

I'd forgotten all about Angle of Descent. It is so beautifully written and so ... them.

Thanks for the list!

[kdbleu.livejournal.com]

Angle of Descent may have been the first fic I read. It's damn close if not. It is one of the first that I reread obsessively.

[koolaidmom11.livejournal.com]

I don't know how to put in links ... so when you explain that to me, i will enter mine. Until then, nothing i like is original anyways

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

Hello! Some kind person had to explain all that to me, too, when I first started posting here. You have to write a little bit of html code to make it work. I had never done that before, but it wasn't too hard:

I have to leave off the < at the beginning and the > at the end in order for you to see the code, but normally you will always put those brackets around your code. The html code for links is: a href="put the web address of your link here">Put the title of your link here</a

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

For the SASA website, for example, I would write, with brackets like this < > around it:

a href="http://community.livejournal.com/sasa_hq">SASA website</a

[stripes13.livejournal.com]

if you're linking to a community on LJ, you can also just use the lj user html tag. would look like this: < lj user="community(or user) name"/ >

[koolaidmom11.livejournal.com]

Ok, got it. Thanks so much.

[stripes13.livejournal.com]

shah recced my go to fic up above, so I'm going to second wisteria_'s Icarus about a million times

[shah-of-blah.livejournal.com]

Hehe, I re-read it for the millionth time after posting that comment.

[stripes13.livejournal.com]

LOL I re-read it the other night!!

[thegreenkitty.livejournal.com]

*head explodes*

Too much fic!! Not enough time.

Seriously, I guess I'm an anomaly...I drowned myself with K/L vids when I first started to get serious...didn't get to the fic until later.

[callmeonetrack.livejournal.com]

1)Simulations (http://daphnaea.livejournal.com/6013.html) by daphnaea
Pre-mini, gorgeous, wistful, halcyon days of pilots. (To be fair, all of Daphnaea's fic would be my top 10 but I wanted to spread the love. She's my favorite writer in the fandom. The style and quality of her prose just kills me.)

2) Something Pretty (http://svilleficrecs.livejournal.com/25078.html) by svilleficrecs
Sexiest. Fic. EVER. Massage. Banter. SO MUCH UST. Incredible.

3) Fearful Symmetry (http://leda13.livejournal.com/26457.html#cutid1) by leda13
Best Kara POV ever. Perfectly inside her head as she reflects on her childhood and the choices that landed her on New Caprica.

4) Periapsis (http://community.livejournal.com/shewhohathapen/26014.html) by rawles
AU Pilots as sociopaths. Makes impossibly perfect sense.

5) Detour (http://brynnmck.livejournal.com/22833.html) by brynnmck
One of the first fics I ever read, just perfect banter and sexy chemistry with Academy Pilots! Brynn is a pre-mini queen.

6) Fight the Break of Dawn (http://community.livejournal.com/tulipfic/63004.html) by rayruz or Did I Fall Asleep? (http://community.livejournal.com/tulipfic/tag/%21story%3A%20did%20i%20fall%20asleep) by rayruz
So hard to choose which of these I love more. The first is a seamless crossover with the Hunger Games universe, the second is a seamless crossover with the Dollhouse universe. Both are phenomenal.

7) Decline and Fall (http://elzed.livejournal.com/94052.html) by elzed/Circumstance (http://elly427.livejournal.com/157828.html) by elly427
These two go together! One is Lee's POV and the latter is Zak's of the tragic/sexy weekend that Lee meets Kara. Gutting and wonderful (esp. Elly's Zak who has sooo much texture here.)

8) Stupid Thing Last Night (http://stars-like-dust.livejournal.com/155274.html), STLN: The Videotape Edition (http://stars-like-dust.livejournal.com/211449.html#cutid1), STLN: The Rewind (http://elzed.livejournal.com/106306.html) by stars_like_dust and elzed
Ok these all go together too! Fantastic funny and sexy and later slightly angsty series of stories about drunk Academy Pilots getting caught making out on film and what happens years later when the tape is found on Galactica.

9) The Disappearing Ground (http://shah-of-blah.livejournal.com/24451.html) by shah_of_blah
Gutting and angsty, but my favorite post-finale fic. They hold on for as long as they can. SOB.

10) Road Trippin' and Tent Pitching (http://community.livejournal.com/somewhere_fic/7829.html#cutid2) (Scroll down to last link under BSG for all parts) by somewhereapart
AU pre-mini pilots go camping! So funny and deliciously USTy. But it's unfinished. I'm dying for Ally to come back and finish it!

[nazkey.livejournal.com]

I remember the first time I read Periapsis I was just ... I don't know, shocked? Amazed? It is so brilliant IMO. So different.

The Stupid Thing Last Night series is totes on my "go-to" list too.

And I love Road Trippin' and wish Ally would finish it too!

Thanks for sharing bb.

[koolaidmom11.livejournal.com]

I love stupid thing last night and a bunch of others. Best smut? Works by brokenmneomic. I think i spelled that wrong though. Favorite is reunion by choosing Sarah. The reason is that Lee and Kara get a do over. A chance to start again but with the knowledge of all previous mistakes i.e. Zak, Anders, Dee...a chance to do it right. It's a work in progress, but I love it!