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So, a couple of fic recs today for fic I have loved that share a common element - they are alternate universes that are not crossovers in the sense of Character A meets Character B, but crossovers of worlds that were built up in other fiction, so Character A living in Character B's world.
Check, Please! and Practical Magic
Author Summary: “My true love will have hair the color of yellow apples,” and Jack Zimmermann will take a bite from the forbidden fruit, juice running down his chin. “My true love will be exactly five feet and six-and-a-half inches tall,” and he will chew a leaf from a tree of that same height. “My true love will be as sweet as sugar and sharp as lemon,” and he will drink half a glass of Great-Aunt Cathy’s lemonade, waiting until the last dregs of sugar hit his tongue. “And if a single one of these things is not to be, then let it be known—my true love shall not be he." (He knows in his bones that this spell won’t ever come true. After all, his true love isn't real, and if he’s not real, then the curse can’t take him. That’s the whole point.)
Original Source: http://checkpleasecomic.com is a truly wonderfully written comic about Eric Bittle, a sweet shy Georgia peach who goes to a small liberal arts college in Massachusetts to play hockey, bake pies, come out of the closet, and fall in love with his hockey team captain.
Why I Love This: This fic is a crossover AU that gives Jack Zimmerman, major love interest of Check, Please! and deeply vulnerable young NHL rising star, the family background of a Practical Magic, a Sandra Bullock movie where she and her family are all witches cursed to be unlucky in love. So, this fic has magic, relationships that are literally cursed, lots of canon lesbian relationships, and a love triangle that is resolved in the acceptable way - by turning into an OT3! I adore the magical community politicking - the world feels fleshed out and real, people have misconceptions that are corrected by new experiences with compassion and not stupid drama. It's great. It's just honestly a ray of sunshine. And, of course, the goalie can break the fourth wall, because goalies are magic.
Check, Please! and Practical Magic
Author Summary: “My true love will have hair the color of yellow apples,” and Jack Zimmermann will take a bite from the forbidden fruit, juice running down his chin. “My true love will be exactly five feet and six-and-a-half inches tall,” and he will chew a leaf from a tree of that same height. “My true love will be as sweet as sugar and sharp as lemon,” and he will drink half a glass of Great-Aunt Cathy’s lemonade, waiting until the last dregs of sugar hit his tongue. “And if a single one of these things is not to be, then let it be known—my true love shall not be he." (He knows in his bones that this spell won’t ever come true. After all, his true love isn't real, and if he’s not real, then the curse can’t take him. That’s the whole point.)
Original Source: http://checkpleasecomic.com is a truly wonderfully written comic about Eric Bittle, a sweet shy Georgia peach who goes to a small liberal arts college in Massachusetts to play hockey, bake pies, come out of the closet, and fall in love with his hockey team captain.
Why I Love This: This fic is a crossover AU that gives Jack Zimmerman, major love interest of Check, Please! and deeply vulnerable young NHL rising star, the family background of a Practical Magic, a Sandra Bullock movie where she and her family are all witches cursed to be unlucky in love. So, this fic has magic, relationships that are literally cursed, lots of canon lesbian relationships, and a love triangle that is resolved in the acceptable way - by turning into an OT3! I adore the magical community politicking - the world feels fleshed out and real, people have misconceptions that are corrected by new experiences with compassion and not stupid drama. It's great. It's just honestly a ray of sunshine. And, of course, the goalie can break the fourth wall, because goalies are magic.
In The Flesh and Harry Potter
Rick Macy and the Blue Whistling Thrush by Iphys
Author Summary: Rick Macy is a wizard. Don't tell his father.
Original Source: In the Flesh is a BBC3 series that focuses on Kieren Walker's return to his family and small town in England after he and several thousand other people rise from their graves as a murderous zombie hoard. Zombie-ism is a treatable condition in this world, but has a huge amount of social backlash. The first series focuses on Kieran's return home and the slow uncovering that he's gay and died by suicide - the show is thoughtful and kind, but it might not be your thing and that's completely fine. Rick Macy is originally a minor character who was Kieran's friend and secretly his first love - while Kieran tried to escape from his claustrophobic small town, Rick Macy joined the army and hid who he was as far down as he could.
Why I Love This: This is a Hogwarts AU that does not take place in Hogwarts. Rick Macy is the first muggleborn wizard in several generations who refuses the option to go to Hogwarts - magic represents some part of himself that he cannot accept, and so his stuffs it down and hides from it. But of course, that does not work. This fic is woundingly beautiful - Rick trying to navigate who he is, trying to figure out the rules of gender and society and to cut off all the pieces of himself that don't hit the mold is just an ongoing torture. Iphys both shows his personal suffering compassionately and refuses to let Rick off the hook when he harms others to hide from himself. It's beautiful and painful and lovely, the original characters are clearly loved, and it's written with such a nuanced understanding of how a person who feels trapped can become their own jailer.
On warnings: I think that both of these fics have clear content warnings at the AO3, so I'm not going to duplicate those warnings here. So, just check and take care of yourselves, ok?
Rick Macy and the Blue Whistling Thrush by Iphys
Author Summary: Rick Macy is a wizard. Don't tell his father.
Original Source: In the Flesh is a BBC3 series that focuses on Kieren Walker's return to his family and small town in England after he and several thousand other people rise from their graves as a murderous zombie hoard. Zombie-ism is a treatable condition in this world, but has a huge amount of social backlash. The first series focuses on Kieran's return home and the slow uncovering that he's gay and died by suicide - the show is thoughtful and kind, but it might not be your thing and that's completely fine. Rick Macy is originally a minor character who was Kieran's friend and secretly his first love - while Kieran tried to escape from his claustrophobic small town, Rick Macy joined the army and hid who he was as far down as he could.
Why I Love This: This is a Hogwarts AU that does not take place in Hogwarts. Rick Macy is the first muggleborn wizard in several generations who refuses the option to go to Hogwarts - magic represents some part of himself that he cannot accept, and so his stuffs it down and hides from it. But of course, that does not work. This fic is woundingly beautiful - Rick trying to navigate who he is, trying to figure out the rules of gender and society and to cut off all the pieces of himself that don't hit the mold is just an ongoing torture. Iphys both shows his personal suffering compassionately and refuses to let Rick off the hook when he harms others to hide from himself. It's beautiful and painful and lovely, the original characters are clearly loved, and it's written with such a nuanced understanding of how a person who feels trapped can become their own jailer.
On warnings: I think that both of these fics have clear content warnings at the AO3, so I'm not going to duplicate those warnings here. So, just check and take care of yourselves, ok?
