wanderings

The Best Version of Yourself by wearemany
Suits
Rating: PG-13 | 4,391 words | Mike Ross/Harvey Specter
Summary: Tom Ford has five rules for the modern gentleman.
I love the structure of this fic, that each of its five parts covers one of those rules - in the same order they appeared in publication, no less - and at the same time there's this great Harvey/Mike story. It's delightful and funny. There's snark and Mike and Harvey challenging each others' views and Harvey wanting to keep Mike forever. It's very them.

Five medical issues Jennifer Keller is really, really sick of treating. by shaenie and fiercelydreamed
Stargate: Atlantis
Rating: PG-13 | ~1,100 words | Jennifer Keller
Some days it boggles the mind that this expedition consists of humanity's "best and brightest."
This is a fic that is what it says on the tin, which is pretty delightful in and of itself, but what makes me love this to pieces is just how incredibly human it is. There's the part where these are people that Jennifer is treating and so the things that show up within the infirmary are very much a part of that and then there's Jennifer's reaction to this, so that it's about both the Atlanteans in general and one in particular. It's funny and sad and amazing.

Figure It Out by lightgetsin
White Collar
Rating: NC-17 | 21,989 words | Elizabeth Burke/Peter Burke/Neal Caffrey | Ableist language: "crazy", "nuts", etc.
"You, upstairs," El said to Neal. He beamed, twirled on one foot, and trotted out. "And you need to stop making it so fun to mess with you," she added to Peter.
She surprised a look of such melting fondness on his face as he looked after Neal that her breath caught. "No," he said quietly. "I really don't."
This is delicious. It's White Collar OT3 so there's polyamory and power differentials and playfulness and it's five times Peter topped Neal, which is great. It's a fic about the development of their relationship, and it's everyone being ridiculously fond of/in love with each other and teasing each other, and Neal's simultaneous desire for both freedom and security. It's fun and funny and incredibly satisfying.

5 Games Jess Played In by grim_lupine
Bend It Like Beckham
Rating: G | 2,899 words |Jess Bhamra/Jules Paxton
Jess’s dad is the one who first put her on a broom, so long ago she can barely remember it. She must have loved it then, she knows, because she’s loved it every time since. There’s nothing like the feel of the wind screaming in your ears when you’re up in the air, you and your broom slicing the sky like a dart, the chill slapping color into your cheeks. *Nothing* like it.
This fic is such a delight. It's the Hogwarts AU where Jess and Jules are in love with quidditch, and it feels like the film. It does such a good job of capturing how much Jess loves this sport and the tension that she feels because that love doesn't mesh with her parents' expectations. It's about Jess growing up and into herself and it's wonderful and one of those fics that feels so short because of that - not unfinished in any way, but compact - this lovely AU spun out in less than three thousand words.

Five Times a Woman Became a Man: Five Versions of Mulan by storiesfortravellers
Huâ Mùlán | Mulan (2009)
Rating: PG-13 | 5,304 words | Fa Mulan
Summary: Five Alternate Universe versions of Mulan: canon AU, historical AUs, modern AU, sci-fi AU, with each highlighting a different aspect of the Mulan story.
Interesting and incredibly powerful, each of these AU versions of Mulan is wonderfully crafted and has a great final line. Reading through this fic - those five times arranged chronologically - is intense; it's five excellent exploratory universes that could stand alone and all have this starkness to them and all contain courage in the face of a harsh reality. It has weight.

(This rec set was orginally posted here for the Five Things challenge on fan_flashworks.)