Generation Kill

Since I mentioned it yesterday, I thought I might post about it today. Generation Kill is a 2008 HBO miniseries about the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. On paper, nothing could be farther from what I normally like. However, I fell into the fandom headlong during the pandemic, and, as I wrote at the time, somehow, watching a bunch of puerile marines fumble their way through a poorly-planned, incompetently-led, questionably-motivated military invasion helped me maintain my sanity during lockdown. Basically, I came for the trainwreck factor and stayed for the awesome fic. I think Generation Kill is the fandom with the highest quality of writing I have ever had the pleasure to read in.

As usual, let's start with some stories that could be enjoyed even if you're not familiar with canon.

1. Don't You Shake Alone by dsudis. This is PTSD-flavoured baby fic. Yeah... It sounds weird and possibly boring. Yet it isn't. It's romance too (M/M, Brad/Nate for those who know the characters). An excellent depiction of PTSD, new parenthood and two people deciding to commit to each other, all rolled into one. Luckily for me, it also exists in podfic: here by chemm80, who is another pdoficcer who should be doing this for a living, she's so good.

2. Rock Happy. This is a Stargate Atlantis crossover. Now, I've only watched SG film 20 years ago and possibily caught only a coupe of eps of SGA (dubbed in Italian, lol) in the paleolithic so I wasn't familiar with either canon. It has a bunch of OCs, I think. This was super interesting. Plotty and gen! And so absorbing.

3. Born Ready by makeit_takeit. 98K of the best kind of M/M romance.20 years worth of The Making of Brad and Nate. Best enjoyed if you know the canon, but since this follows our main characters from when they were teenagers and long after canon has ended, you can totally just be swept along in this epic, amazing romance. I'd buy this as a book if I could. And if I could just pay someone to record a podfic version, I would. It's been at the top of my fannish wishlist since reading this masterpiece.

4. To Shame The Devil by Kalliste. This is a future!fic AU, with supernatural elements and genderswap. I think it works pretty well for those unfamiliar with canon, honestly.The podfic by Chemm80 is another of my all-time favourites.

5. I could rec another 10 fics easily, but since it's the lead-up to Christmas I'll leave you with this little festive gem Managing Expectations by alethia. Podfic version: here by chemm80

The Pitt

So, one of the two hot ER cowboys I mentioned yesterday, Dr Jack Abbot, is a marine veteran himself. The crossover with Generation Kill was just begging to be written and the excellent astronomical_light rose admirably to the challenge and delivered: the path we took to get here. Brad/Nate and Robby/Abbot. “Well, I’ll be damned,” Jack says, resting his hands on his hips and tilting his head in assessment. Santos was right—Brad is a little impaled. It’s been something like twenty years since the last time Jack saw him, yet he looks infuriatingly unchanged. His hair’s a little darker, less sun-bleached blond, but for all that he’s still golden California tan he’s got far fewer lines around his eyes than Jack can say about himself.

Merlin

This BBC show for children is a prime example of one of those fandoms where, for me, fanon clearly surpassed and trascended canon. I don't think I ever finished watching the show back when it was airing, but man, the Merlin/Arthur fic I have saved I have gone back to hundreds of times in the intervening years, especially as podfic. I don't know why precisely the idea of a relationship between a stuckup but brave prince and its bumbling but loyal manservant was right up my alley but it just was.

The Student Prince by fayjay. This is a modern day AU where Arthur is the heir to the British throne and he meets Merlin at university in Saint Andrews, in circa 2010. This is basically the one of the best YA romances I've ever read, better than most traditionally published stuff and it can totally be read with little to no knowledge of the tv show. I re-listen to the podfic version (read by the author herself, who is actually better than most pro audiobook readers) at least once a year.

fayjay has podficced many of my favourite canon era stories, like In Time of Trial by shinetheway; The Beltane Cycle by astolat/ Naomi Novik (here is the podfic); The Crown of the Summer Court by astolat/ Naomi Novik (here is the podfic).

The Pitt

I've fallen down the rabbit hole of Mel/Frank shipping and I regret nothing, the quality of the writing for this pairing is stellar. I have 80+ bookmarks for it on the Ao3. However, I do have a soft spot for another pairing, and that is Robby/Abbot. The two ER cowboys, chief attending of the day and night shift respectively. Old man yaoi at its finest. My interest in the pairing is completely alethia's fault. I've been a fan of her work since Generation Kill and she is just such a talented author I literally cannot choose which one of the 30+ Robby/Abbot fic she's written so far is my favourite. I love them all. Go on, pick one at random and read it, you will be blown away. alethia gets these two characters in a way the writers of The Pitt can only dream of. If you're a podfic nut like me, you could start by listening to Safe Haven by andrasteemraldpetal .