coprime_recs | Entries tagged with dark is rising

Ordinary Boy (Bran/Will | PG13 | 1,590 words): Bran visits Will at college. Hee, college boys in love, so sweet. And I like the chance to see Will and Bran from the perspective of Will's classmamtes.

Excerpt:
"I didn't even know Stanton knew he had a libido." Geoff says. He's still a bit shocked, since everyone thought Stanton was your archetypal buried in work type, destined for absent-minded professordom and tweed jackets. Not the type to have handsome boyfriends with exhibitionist tendencies.

To Remember For Always (Will/Bran | PG | 5,623 words) has Bran gradually regaining his memories. The description is vivid and colorful, which is how I always remember the tone of the books being. And the story is gradual so it's more of a coming to the senses than a grand surprise.

Excerpt:
"What do you think, Bran?" Ceridwen appealed.

He raised his eyebrows at her. "You are asking a shepherd's son how he feels about foxes?"

"Oh, bah." She flapped a hand dismissively. "Foxes don't carry off sheep."

The milgwn do. It was so strong and certain a thought that he nearly said it aloud to city-bred Ceridwen, who had probably never even heard of the great grey foxes of the mountaintops. In his mind flashed a sudden picture of a rangy dog fox, grinning, tongue lolling, muzzle splashed with red blood. Abrupt fury at the fox washed over him, and then with the image it was gone past grasping.

He bit back the words that rose in him, confused, and realized the girls were still waiting for a response. "Still a nuisance, they are," he managed, and heard it come out of his mouth light and normal.

Protection (Bran/Will | PG | 3,403 words) is Will and Bran on the hillside while Will makes daisy chains. It's a nicely-written way of revisiting Will and Bran a few years down the road.

Excerpt:
"I'll have you know this is very skilled work." Will held up the green stem with its one tiny half-moon-shaped slit near the flower head. "All it takes is one tiny slip of a thumbnail and bang -- that's a daisy wasted. And that's even before you get to the precision stalk-threading process..." He thought for a minute and waved his right hand at Bran, complete with its new set of talons. "Er... I'm learning the guitar, just in case you were wondering."

"No, no..." Bran shook his head. "I just put these things down to your funny English ways." He took the glasses off and smiled over at Will, his tawny eyes a sudden shock in the pale face. Despite himself Will felt a jolt, looking into those eyes; a faint echo of the first day he'd seen them, when Cafall had pushed him onto the Old Way and the world had suddenly spun around him, and then when it had stopped the pattern of everything was changed and yet somehow still the same. The day he'd met the raven boy on the mountain, and was given back something he'd lost.

Bran was reaching into his bag, and pulling something out. "Here -- present for you." He tossed over a small red and yellow apple for Will to catch. "Had a funny feeling I might run into you today." He seemed to hesitate for a moment, and then smiled again. There was a hint of the old mockery in that smile, but it was as though the edges had been taken off. The arrogance in his voice had evolved into something softer, less raw than before. "John said you were coming. It's good to see you again, Will, bach."

Ice Cold (Bran-Will, Aziraphale | PG | 4,020 words) goes along with In the Bleak Midwinter and Shades of Grey. In it, Bran meets with Aziraphale and Will to witness something. I do like the different portrayal of Will and Bran's relationship without it feeling forced. And, thankfully since I want happy endings, this story offers a ray of hope for Bran and Will that "Shades of Grey" doesn't.

Excerpt:
'I don't answer to the Dark,' Will said haughtily.

The angel began to laugh. Bran looked at Will's expression and felt like laughing too.

'My dear boy,' the angel said. 'I'm a friend of Merriman's. How is the old reprobate?'

'He's an angel, Will. Have you lost your sight?' Bran said mockingly, and Will scowled, opening his mouth to say something.

'I do understand it's traditional for young men to metaphorically compare the size of their -- equipment,' the angel said dryly, 'but do let's not stand around here all day.'

Will and Bran looked at him, and exchanged glances.

'"Equipment?"' Will mouthed.

'You English are very prudish,' Bran said, and saw a quick grin flit over Will's face. For a moment he felt sorry they were no longer friends.

Shades of Grey (Bran-Will, Crowley | PG | 791 words | sequel to In the Bleak Midwinter, sequel is Ice Cold), has Crowley taking Bran under his wing. It's great because it's painful. Because Crowley gives him back what he wants, and Crowley can really be good at evil when he wants to.

Excerpt:
"That's one of the Dark, Bran," Will said. "That's nothing you want to be with. Come away, I'll make sure you're safe."

Bran raised his pale eyebrows.

"That's a first, Will bach. But where were you all those years till now? I know who my friends are."

"Don't be a fool," Will yelled as Bran took another step away. "Are you so stupid you're taken in by a smile covering corruption?"

Bran's breath grew short as he remembered the dewin folk leaving him to be a lonely freak, taking his memories and his achievements away.

In the Bleak Midwinter (Will-Crowley | PG | 1,625 words | sequel is Shades of Grey), is a meeting between Will and Crowley that's just nifty.

Excerpt:
"You really are freezing, aren't you? Here. Take my hand."

Will found he could move again, and looked at the outheld hand. He felt very strongly that he did not want to touch it, and shrank back.

"Oh, for Heav-- Look. Just take my blessed hand, will you? You're not going to catch anything."

Slowly, Will put one of his blue hands in the man's hand, shuddering a little as fingers closed firmly around his own. Warmth surged through him, and feeling rushed painfully back into his hands and feet. He whimpered a little, and the man laughed cruelly as he put both hands back on the wheel.

Awakening: Loneliness (Bran/Will | PG | 3,062 words) is Bran remembering what happened in his nightmares. The story's gentle and comforting, without necessarily being happy. Both Bran and Will are lovingly characterized.

Excerpt:
"It feels like something that wants me to remember it." It's the first time I've given words to these fears, and now I can't stop. "I'm sorry to call you in the middle of the night like this, really I am. But-" The admission burns my tongue, but I have no choice. "I...I don't have anybody else. I mentioned it to my da once, in passing, and he went all distant on me. There isn't anyone else but you."

And when at last I fall quiet I am sure I hear him sigh. "It's only a dream, Bran," he says, but I hear the wistfulness in his voice that he's too weary to hide, and it seizes something in my gut and twists it. The mellow, even timbre of his voice stirs memories I can't quite catch, that float away before I can pin them down.

There are two more parts, Awakening: Awareness and Awakenings: Together, which I only just realized because the parts aren't linked together. Having read them, I prefer the first part on its own.

Long Way to Go (Will/Bran | PG | 1,260 words) is about Will. It's got an experimental style that works. Everytime I read this, I find something new or different. It's got a lot of the lovely use of symbolism that was in the original series as well as things left unsaid.

Excerpt:
"Where are we?" asked Will looking out of the window. It was still raining, a continuous soporific counterpoint to the rise and fall of the train wheels that had left him in a half drowse since Bath.

"Outside Bristol," said the woman. "Cardiff soon, see, then up into Snowdon and the smaller stops beyond."

Will thanked her and said "I wasn't asleep long, then?"

The woman tutted but gave no other reply. She turned more cards. The Magician. The Wheel. The Lovers. The part of Will that was as old as time shivered. The part that was a nineteen year old just scant months from attending Cambridge shrugged and turned to look out the window.

Hoping (Will/Bran | PG | 2,454 words) picks up where Waiting leaves off. Will and Bran are cute without being cutesy. And the reader knows what Will's problem is and why he can't tell Bran. It's nice to picture them a few years down the road, trying to make things work.

Excerpt:
Bran remembered when they were about fourteen, and Bran had come to visit Will for Will's birthday at Huntercombe. Will's oldest brother Stephen had come with Will to pick him up at the station. They'd come into the bustling house, full of Will's brothers and sisters with Mr. and Mrs. Stanton trying to keep everything in a semblance of order. Will had introduced Bran with a simple, "This is my friend, Bran."

And that had been it. Because he was Will's, he was theirs. No gawking at the freak with pale skin, no bizarre questions or sidestepping to keep away from him. They'd welcomed him with open arms and hadn't thought anything about it. They were warm and kind to him and more than happy to let him into their cramped little family.

Waiting, sequel is Hoping (Will/Jane, Will/Bran | PG13 | 1,852 words) is the end of Will and Jane's relationship from Will's perspective. I like it because, while Will and Jane are both good people, it just doesn't work out. And Jane understands where Will doesn't. It's a...quiet sort of story.

Excerpt:
He'd been visiting Clwyd since he was twelve years old. Even after the novelty of visiting his uncle's farm had worn off, Will had still gone to Clwyd.

To see Bran.

And that was what had driven Jane to break it off with him. Not that that made any more sense than anything else that had been happening of late.

They'd gotten into an argument two nights before, him and Jane. Jane had been upset about something -- Will couldn't even remember what, now -- and the argument had gotten out of hand. One moment, Jane had been yelling at him about going into town the next day and then she'd suddenly cried out, "And I don't know why you insist on going back to Wales every summer."

Summer's Men (Will/Bran | PG | 6,379 words) is Will and Bran, several years after the books have ended. This story catches the tone of the books-- slightly wistful and subdued-- quite well.

Excerpt:
"Will." His name was spoken in a gentle lilt that always sounded to him like it contained a question. He turned and there was Bran, closing the sheep gate behind him---like and not like how he remembered. He was taller, but so was Will. Thin, with the tell-tale crop of white hair grown longer now, falling untidily down over the curve of his forehead. Bran brushed it back in a gesture Will remembered, his pale eyes searching out Will's in mild query.

"I wrote to tell you I was coming," Will said.

"I know. It's just startling to see you." Bran hesitated, then came forward, reaching around him to hug him tight. Will felt soft wool under his hands; he could smell it and the faint scent of sheep and dog and soap that had settled in the weave of cloth.

There were several things that he could say--"you look well," "I'm sorry about your father"--but they were not things that he would ever say to Bran. Instead he knelt down to where a rust-red sheepdog crouched calmly and curiously by Bran's feet.

"You got another dog."

"Lloegr." The dog looked up at the sound of his name, and Bran smiled with only the faintest trace of grief. He cleared his throat. "'England,'" he translated, and his smile grew into a grin. "It seemed fitting."

"Ah," said Will. "So I am not completely forgotten." He said it lightly, but there was an undercurrent to the words that he had not been aware of when he spoke.

Of Loving Bondage (Will/Bran | R | 1,416 words) pokes gentle fun at the idea of Bran getting his memories back when he and Will have sex. Will is amusingly real -- slightly petty and sarcastic. Will and Merrriman's conversation is great too.

Excerpt:
Perhaps it was exhaustion, or nervousness, or suppressed and pent-up emotions, or the fact that he'd just had really great sex and consequently didn't give a damn what happened to him. But whatever the reason, Will didn't hang his head in shame. Instead, he propped himself up on his elbows and glared at Merriman with all the anger he could muster.

"What have I done?" he snapped. "What have I done? I certainly never asked for him to get his memories back! In fact, it makes my life a hell of a lot more complicated, and having you looming over me, looking like you wished that sodomy was still a hanging crime in this country--which it's not, so don't go getting any ideas--doesn't do much to UNCOMPLICATE things!"

Merriman remained unmoved by the sudden outburst. "Will, it's the fourth time it's happened this week."

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Fanfic Recs by coprime

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Dark Is Rising: Ordinary Boy by Gunbunny

Dark Is Rising: To Remember for Always by Genarti

Dark Is Rising: Protection by sheldrake

Xover (Dark Is Rising/Good Omens): Ice Cold by Daegaer

Xover (Dark Is Rising/Good Omens): Shades of Grey by Daegaer

Xover (Dark Is Rising/Good Omens): In the Bleak Midwinter by Daegaer

Dark Is Rising: Awakening: Loneliness by Ashura

Dark Is Rising: Long Way to Go by Nope

Dark Is Rising: Hoping by Ninkasa

Dark Is Rising: Waiting by Ninkasa

Dark Is Rising: Summer's Men by Kest

Dark Is Rising: Of Loving Bondage by Gramarye

Dark Is Rising: Enter Memory by Ashura