avelera:

I was tagged by bilboo to list 10 fics that stayed with me. I tag…. well, anyone who thinks this would be a cool meme! You can say I tagged you and everything ^_^

rules: in a text post, list ten FICS that have stayed with you in some way. don’t take but a few minutes, and don’t think too hard — they don’t have to be the “right” works, or even all the same pairing or fandom, just the fics that have touched you or that stuck with you somehow. tag ten some friends, including me, so I’ll see your list. make sure you let your friends know you’ve tagged them!

Edit: Oh, but if you do read any of these fics because of me, let me know so we can geek out about them :3

1. Veiling of the Sun – maggie – I think this was the first fic to ever make me bawl like a baby, like actual wracking sobs. It’s about Boromir succumbing to the Ring, basically going full evil, and then snapping himself out of it and beginning the long, agonizing road back to redemption. Gen, no pairing, ANGST LIEK WOAH and I will never, ever forget this story. 
2. Lie down in darkness, rise up from the ash by Dwimordene – 2002 was a year of LotR angst for me, and this was the ULTIMATE angst fic. What if Gollum had been killed before the book began? The fabric of Arda itself comes unraveled and everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, that can go wrong does go wrong. It was agonizing and brilliant, the first time I’ve seen a full re-write of Lord of the Rings that was on-par in skill, style, and length. It took years to complete so I never read the end but holy hell do I remember this fic. 
3. Harry Potter and the Battle of Wills by Jocelyn – AKA, the fic that RUINED Harry Potter books for me. It was so good that JKR could just not match up again. I have no idea if I’d still feel that way (I suspect I would, it was pretty excellent). Alternate Book 6 that I will never forget. 
4. A time and times and a half a time again by honesty – Legolas is turned by Saruman into an orc, via torture and black magic. The fellowship gets him back, but there’s no knowing if it took his mind as well. Gimli holds a vigil through the night, not knowing if it’s better or worse if Legolas is still himself. The OTHER fic that fucking destroyed me and made me sick with crying. 
5. The Patient by scribe – The first truly spectacular modernization of Lord of the Rings I ever read. It has influenced all modernizations since for me. “When Dr Aaron Stone is asked to conduct a psychiatric examination of a patient with severe schizophrenia [Gandalf], he becomes the key to unlocking a mystery that alters everything he knows of the world and his own past.” SO GOOD.
6. lillies with full hands by refusals – I hated this story with a fucking passion when I first read it, then I gave it another chance and it FUCKED ME UP. Bucky as explored with the FULL ARRAY of trauma issues he could very well have. Not a fun story but goddamn did it screw with my head. 
7. Sons of Durin by kivrinengle – The OTHER best and most amazing modernization, this time of The Hobbit. More than anything, kivrin inspired me to buckle down and really churn our my own stories with her amazing chapter-per-day speed, so I owe her a huge debt. I also love this story to death
8. Of Wine and Virtue by amatara – Perhaps the most gorgeous Babylon 5 Londo/G’Kar story ever written, in which G’Kar and a long-time Emperor Londo explore Paris and it is painful and bittersweet in the extreme. The sheer delicacy and beauty of this fic will never leave me.
9. Clarity of Vision by missmithen – Another fic that influenced me by the sheer genius of the writer, Mithen opened me to a world of possibilities on Hobbit AU, rich in lore and wonderfully written, it’s just an all-around incredible fic. 
10. The Sacred and The Profane by afrai – Another fic that made me cry so hard I thought I was going to be sick (Apparently I have a penchant for those). Good Omens, Aziraphale/Crowley, where Aziraphale fell and Crowley remained an angel. Not for the faint of heart but good god is it a powerful story.