So I wanted some comfort fic and went to look up some old favorites. Most of these I've recced before.

Yet Another Snape Meets the Dursleys Story by rabbit and v-Jinx-v, Harry Potter, gen - totally gen h/c emotional porn. I love this story. This is one of my go-to comfort fics for the entire Snape Meets The Dursleys, Realizes How Much They Suck, Hates Them So Much, Is Generally Fucking Kick Ass and Super Competent While Dudley Turns Out to Eventually Be Awesome and Snape and Harry Bond So Much. It hits all my gen h/c kinks, with the Pathetic!Brave!Stoic!So!Goddamn!Gryffindor!Harry and Reluctantly!Admitting!Bias!Against!Harry!And!Uber!Competent!Snape and the sucky Dudsleys so very much told on child abuse and being shitty human beings and my personal favorite Personal!Growth!Dudley.

..wow, count those capital letters.

Nightblooming Heartsease by julad fic Transfigurations (Harry Potter, Harry/Draco) which is also a favorite fic but not a comfort fic. If you've read this, you may or may not get why I love this one when I really want to feel warm and fuzzy because yeah, I know how it ends, but ending was part of the journey and the entire thing is gorgeous. The author created the prequel whole as an exploration of the lives of Snape and Neville during war that occurred before the events of Transfigurations and took great pains to not only write fully-fleshed, three dimensional characters but a fully fleshed, uncertain, gorgeous three dimensional relationship that explained how being different people didn't necessarily mean there isn't common ground to be explored and cherished. It's wartime desperation and amazing domestic sweetness and two people who work together and learn together and then fall in love together. Warning: character death. But honest to God, that's part of what makes it comfort fic.

Goodnight Moon by yahtzee, Joan of Arcadia/The Day After Tomorrow crossover, gen - it's wistful and dreamy and sad in the very best, most uplifting, most human way possible. When this hit fandom, I think everyone recced it. And it was totally worth it.

An Affair to Remember by Tira Nog, SGA, AU, John/Rodney - yes, it's a SGA version of the movie. This is emotional porn for me. I only read it once a year now so as to keep that fresh reaction of just ridiculous amounts of tear-wiping and contented purring.

Fearless, Mindless Fancy by giddygeek, SGA, AU, John/Rodney - it's adorable and creepy and wonderful adn so much fun. John is a psychic! Rodney has a TV show about science and debunks this kind of thing! THEY THEN HUNT GHOSTS!

Benediction by thete1 - this was one of the earliest Smallville fics written and still among my absolute favorite for being gorgeous and sweet and everything Lex and Clark could have been.

Ice by merryish, Smallville, Clark/Lex - I love this story. There is a storm! And a barn! And Clark and Lex with no idea what the hell they're doing but going to try anyway. You know. To keep warm. Emotional intensity plus hotness can never go wrong. <--link corrected, thanks to merrily for the link

Omiai by Rose Emily, Smallville, AU, Clark/Lex - arranged marriage fic! Secretly falling in love! Angst! God, this one is every cliche I love done briliantly well. And long, long, long.

Primary by velvetglove, Smallville, Clark/Lex - a long, slow, deliciously building relationship after many years and much heartbreak and so wallowable.

Loves Me Not by astolat, SGA, John/Rondey - in which nothing in this not hilarious and sweet and funny and adorable and sure, Rodney loves chocolate, but kind of thinking that's not the only reason it goes this way.

If anyone wants to throw out their go-to-comfort fics? I would not like, be opposed or anything.

Because every once in a while, I just want to spend a few hours somewhere very far away. Another galaxy, even. All SGA, Sheppard/McKay

About a Lamp by flambeau - this is one of those ones I always re-read for the way she builds this one in long and short scenes, surreal and just odd, but utterly, utterly amazing as they slowly fit together. There's a feeling of not-quite-right that everyone knows is there but no one can finger, and it opens up into a really fantastic Needful Things-esque type of story, in a fantastic way. Definitely takes the idea of careful what you wish for to a new and really fascinating place.

The Machinery of Heaven by flambeau - it took me two reads to really get it, but in my defense, pretty sure I had a bad cold. The plot is fascinating and complex and a couple of reads aren't any hardship at all. Rodney's engineering skills are needed to help fix a machine, but not everyone on the planet wants it restored. It starts slow and easy and moves faster the farther in you get. Did I mention bracelets for thought sharing? Yeah. Just like that.

Intersections by kaneko - first season canon based, a vaguely alternate history of John and Rodney's first meeting and their respective pasts. Moves between past and present flawlessly and one of my favorites for random re-read.

Instantaneous by Cimorene - personal transporter! Mostly. Inspiring scientific exploration, long jumper rides, John learning the art of startling people for fun and profit, and an interesting exploration of the possibilities of use.

The Pegasus Device by liketheriverrun - very WWII AU of Private Detective John Sheppard and criminologist Rodney McKay. Oh heck yes. With mysterious deaths and strange accidents and the war coming home. It's so totally a great fannish caper and it. Is. Awesome.

The Taste of Apples and Sacrificial Drift by auburnnothenna - novel and sequel, start with gen that becomes slash. A great plot for the first part that grows creepier and odder at every turn. Mindlinks and alien spores and do not want to spoil, but must be read. Very awesome.

Recs!

Butoh, Dance of Darkness by mobiusklein. I have no idea what the crossover is, but frankly, not sure I care. The creep factor here is enormous, and the twist completely unexpected. AU indeed. And chilling as hell. Run, don't walk.

Ceremony of Innocence by rivkat Rivka does things with ubercomplex Lexes that always surprise me and always work. As a post-Visitor story, it clarifies everything we think we know about Lex and tells us things we may not. Clark's very Clark, but Lex is painfully Lex, with every dichotomy and every obsession. Read it.

Room 29 by gila. Clark wanders off. Lex goes after. I never, ever get tired of these stories. *G*

First Times by spyhop Oh HELL yes. Clark's first times, one and two. Here be het, but deal, because seriously good and hot story of Clexness as well here. Loved it.

Macellum by Sylvia. Mmm. Hard AU. Brothersfic. Luthor powergames. And I dearly love it. Run with it.

Genesis by harriet_spy Whoa doggies. Science and obsession and Helen. And fits so flawlessly into canon that, wow, doesn't THIS explain a few things about Helex.

Into the Woods by rivkat Oddly, there's no way I can begin to explain WHAT about this one haunted me. But like any good fairy tale before Disney, it leaves the creep and forgets the happy ending.

Futura by rosenho Mmm. Elseworldy goodness. To get it, just read it, but mmmm. Hope manages the hardest thing--keeping two characters AS the characters while changing every other damn thing. Very good.

*****

Recs Redux. In other words, my way of reminding myself to update my recs on my page more than once ever blue-colored moon or so. And because I love these stories and think they should be read regularly. Every day, even.

Yes, I'm still gripey, but I'm PRODUCTIVELY gripey!
( recs redux, the angst collection )