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Sherlock Holmes: The Case Of The Stolen Doctor by Flawedamythyst

Fandom: Sherlock Holmes (books)
Pairings/Characters: Holmes/Watson
Rating: T
Length: 47,061 words
Creator Links: Flawedamythyst
Theme: Mystery & Suspense, casefic

Summary: Moriarty kidnaps Watson.

Reccer's Notes: Watson is kidnapped by Moriarty. The story cycles between two POVs, Watson's and Holmes'. We follow Holmes as he does everything he can to find Watson, and Watson as he tries his best to survive as a prisoner. I will say Moriarty was actually menacing in this story, not watered down like some portrayals, and there is a lot suspense about if Holmes will be able to rescue Watson in time before something terrible occurs.

Fanwork Links: AO3

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SGA: In Heaven and Earth by Sholio

Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Characters/Pairings: John Sheppard, Rodney McKay
Rating: G
Length: 1800
Content Notes: no AO3 warnings apply
Creator Links: Sholio on AO3, Sholio's old SGA website
Themes: Mystery and suspense, Genfic, Ghosts

Summary: It gets bloody creepy here at night.

Reccer's Notes: This is an interesting story about Atlantis remembering her dead, and indeed those still living, in a somewhat troubling way. At first it's unclear how it's happening, but gradually John figures out it's just the city, haunted, and haunting them. Nicely creepy.

Fanwork Links: In Heaven and Earth

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!theme day

Friday, November 7 - Birthdays

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Thursday , November 6 - Free for All

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!theme day

Wednesday, November 5 - Guy Fawkes Night

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Tuesday, November 4 - Promotion Day

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!theme day

Monday, November 3 - The Month of November

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Current Mood: contemplative
Current Location: comatose in bed
Current Music: birdsong

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Dark Shadows: Blood Levy by Susan Rains/Carey Kasdot

Fandom: Dark Shadows

Pairings/Characters: Barnabas Collins, Roger Collins, Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, Angelique Bouchard Collins, Elliot Stokes, Julia Hoffman, David Collins, Hallie Stokes, Maggie Evans, Willie Loomis

Rating: T

Length: 102,807

Creator Links: SusanRains | Archive of Our Own

Theme: Mystery & Suspense

Summary: Four strangers converge on Collinsport. But maybe one of them is coming home.

The vicious killing of two young boys has Barnabas convinced that a vampire preys upon Collinsport. His suspects are four newcomers: three strangers, and an enemy from his own past, long believed dead.

Reccer's Notes: Though it may be read separately without much fuss, this fic follows Lunatic Yarn, recc'd a few days ago. Blood Levy details the goings on of the ever-put-upon Collins family as they struggle to maintain their reputation while wringing a little love and enjoyment out of ~Life. It's a fine mystery using all the familiar TV show performers, the main ones in their regular roles, while various supporting performers Author has envisioned as original characters. Beginning with sudden action, continuing in an eerie atmosphere, well, could we expect anything else?

Fanwork Links:
Blood Levy (Dark Shadows 1971) Book 3 - Chapter 1 - Carey Kasdot (SusanRains) - Dark Shadows (1966) [Archive of Our Own]

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Sherlock Holmes: Bad Dog by Unpainted Canvas

Fandom: Sherlock Holmes (tagged both books and Granada)
Pairings/Characters: Holmes/Watson
Rating: T
Length: 11,539 words
Creator Links: Unpainted Canvas (RatTale)
Theme: mystery & suspense, casefic

Summary: During a hard case Holmes and Watson part ways after an argument, and now Holmes suddenly has more to worry about than missing children.

Reccer's Notes: After they have a terrible row, Watson is kidnapped by bad guys to prevent Holmes from pursuing a case. The entire story is from Holmes POV, and there is a lot of worry and tension as Holmes tries to solve the disappearance of his friend. It's a good casefic, as well as the circumstances leading to realization of feelings by Holmes.

Fanwork Links: AO3

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Round 180: Mystery & Suspense

Moody photograph of the ocean from an outlook. In the foreground, two dirty hands claw their way up over the edge toward the viewer. Text: Mystery & Suspense, at Fancake.

Spooky season's not over yet because our theme for November is mystery & suspense!

The tag for this round is: theme: mystery & suspense

If you're just joining us, be sure to check out our policy on content notes. Content notes aren't required, but they're nice to include in your recs, especially if a fanwork has untagged content that readers may wish to know about in advance.

( Rules! )

( Posting Template! )

( Promote this round! )

Reblog on Tumblr | Reskeet on Bluesky | Retoot on Mastodon

Current Mood: peaceful
Current Location: comatose in bed
Current Music: birdsong

Entry tags:

Dark Shadows: The Lunatic Yarn by Susan Rains/Carey Kasdot

Fandom: Dark Shadows

Pairings/Characters: Barnabas Collins, Julia Hoffman, Elliot Stokes, David Collins, Elizabeth Collins, Roger Collins, Angelique Bouchard Collins, Harry Johnson, Willie Loomis, Maggie Evans

Rating: T

Length: 37,304

Creator Links: archiveofourown.org/users/SusanRains/pseuds/Carey%20Kasdot

Theme: Uncommon settings

Summary: A dumbwaiter system found in the house unleashes a baffling illness which turns pleasant friends into infatuated screwballs. Meanwhile, games with the dumbwaiter bring Hallie and David nights of terror. With the addition of an afghan that roams the house at will and a houseguest no one wants, Collinwood hits the height of mayhem.

Reccer's Notes: You'd be pretty hard put to discover a stranger, more unsettling setting than a dumbwaiter in which an intrepid soul or two ventures to travel. Add to this Halloween rec the inimitable spookiness of the great estate of Collinwood and you've discovered a delightful read with stellar characterizations and the usual undercurrent of Things Unseen in the fandom.

Fanwork Links: The Lunatic Yarn (Dark Shadows 1971) Book 2 - Carey Kasdot (SusanRains) - Dark Shadows (1966) [Archive of Our Own]

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Mo Dao Zu Shi, Chen Qing Ling: medium blues, by darkterrible; art by Mojoflower.

Fandom: Mo Dao Zu Shi
Pairings/Characters: M/M; Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian; Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji, Lan Sizhui, Jiang Yanli, Jiang Cheng, Jin Ling, Wen Qing, and others.
Rating: Explicit
Length: 193,252
Content Notes: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, animal death, body horror, bullying, conspiracy, domestic violence, Scenery Porn, Scenery Gorn, Smut
Creator Tags: Horror, Spooky, Opposites Attract, Fluff and Angst, Gore, Ghosts, Necromancy
Creator Links: (AO3)

darkterrible; (Threads) tucsonodd; (Twitter)

darkterrible666

Theme: Uncommon Settings, Casefic, Canon LGBTQ+ Characters, Cops & Crime, Fandom Classics, Hurt/Comfort, Mystery & Suspense, Novel-Length Fic, Psychic Powers, Uncommon Settings, Urban Fantasy, Worldbuilding

Summary: Wei Wuxian can see the dead. Weird happenings ensue.

Author’s Notes: I really struggled with putting this back up again (sorry I know I'm a flake) I have a love/hate relationship with it. But here it is.

This is a repost (it's all over the internet in various formats and languages) but it is mine.

I wrote this a looong time ago, before I really had a GREAT understanding of the naming conventions used in the untamed. Some of it might be incorrect.

Reccer's Notes:: Although November’s Mystery & Suspense theme would apply, I’m using Uncommon Settings to shoehorn in this beloved modern-with-magic paranoir fic in time for Halloween; the intrigue-haunted waterfront city of Lotus, patterned after Venice, is very much a character in its own right. (Note that, despite the geographical inspiration, nobody seems to have been whitewashed.)

medium blues has a history as cryptic and elusive as its subject matter: for various reasons (including having been targeted in the fandom’s 2020 cyberbullying scandal) the author—along with this fic—has periodically vanished and resurfaced under a succession of pseudonyms.

Here are the author’s original summary and tags:

( Continue. )

Fanwork Links: medium blues, by

darkterrible.

(Wayback Machine): https://web.archive.org/web/20220625040644/https://archiveofourown.org/works/39589791?view_adult=true&view_full_work=true

(Archive.today): https://archive.ph/cJARF

Frontispiece by

mojoflower, from her review on

wangxianficrecs: https://wangxianficrecs.tumblr.com/post/643044937390325760/medium-blues-by-darkandterrible-e

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Friday, October 31 - Chaos and/or Order

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due South: Academic Punk by thehoyden

Fandom: due South
Characters/Pairings: Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski, Diefenbaker, Victoria Metcalfe, original characters
Rating: Explicit
Length: 19,093
Content Notes: no AO3 warnings
Creator Links: thehoyden on AO3, luzula on the Audiofic Archive
Themes: Uncommon settings, Friends to lovers, First time, Working together, Complete AU: academia

Summary: "What the hell is this, an Austen novel?"

Reccer's Notes: Complete AUs are unusual in due South, and this is that rarity, a dS AU set in academia. Fraser is a new professor, looked down on by his colleagues as he's from the University of Guelph, and only Ray Kowalski, a punky, nonconformist professor, befriends him. They both have offices on the unpopular top floor (Fraser as he's bottom of the pecking order, and Ray as he likes to get away from the rest of the department), which helps kickstart their friendship. The story is about the highs and lows of academic life and there are some great sections showing Ray's unconventional teaching style which the students love, and Fraser's more traditional, but solid, approach. There's academic politics and also drama with the return of Victoria, Fraser's ex and his academic rival. It's about character development, and about Fraser and Ray's friendship which blossoms gradually into much, much more. The fic's beautifully written, and an extremely good read - highly recommended.

Fanwork Links: Academic Punk on AO3, and the excellent podfic by luzula is here

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!free for all day

Thursday, October 30 - Free for All

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Tuesday, October 28 - Promotion Day

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Hamlet: Rosemary for Remembrance by Gehayi

Fandom: Hamlet (William Shakespeare)
Pairings/Characters: Ophelia, Hamlet, Laertes, Polonious, Claudius (genderflipped to Claudia), Gertrude, Fortinbras, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (genderflipped to Rosie and Goldie), Claudia/Gertrude
Rating: Teen
Length: 11,174
Creator Links: AO3 profile.
Themes: Uncommon Settings, IN SPACE, Murder Mystery, Alternate Ending

Summary: Hamlet in space, starring sensible and heroic Ophelia, genderswapped Claudius, clones Rosencrantz and Guilderstern and alien Fortinbras. (Alas, there are no sharks in space riding motorcycles, nor is there a time machine.) (Taken from AO3)

Reccer's notes: This is just an extremely well-done sci-fi take on the classic play, with Ophelia as the protagonist. I really enjoy the species changes to certain characters, and the way the author plays with the well-known story beats to create something unique. The author's notes at the end also have some interesting insights into the writing choices they made.

Fanwork links: Rosemary for Remembrance