Compiled by the Espresso Addict

Espresso Recommendations

Innovative and stylish fanfiction, showcasing the very best across multiple sf, fantasy & literature fandoms. Good writing in all its forms can be found here, including gen, het, slash, OCs, AUs, crossovers, future fics, humour & pastiche

Contents: 1010 recs in 235 fandoms; 65 links

Comics, cartoon strips

Calvin & Hobbes | Comics

Calvin & Hobbes

Hello Operator, Please Give Me Number Nine by Starlingthefool

'She's twenty-one, damn it. The world is big and she's seen only a little of it. She wants to finish her theses and graduate. She wants to travel outside the Midwest. She wants to see the weird stuff Calvin posts on Twitter this week. She wants to become an anthropologist, or a writer, or a lawyer, or a botanist/politician/social worker/cat lady. She wants to live.' Susie encounters Death in a delightful tale that deservedly Won Yuletide

[Added 28/10/2014; Drama; 2500-6000; Calvin & Hobbes]

Spaceman Spiff and the Alien Conspiracy by Froggimus Rex

'This was the worst summer. Calvin knew this to be a fact in much the same way that he knew that the sky was blue, that Susie Derkins was annoying and gross, and that Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs were part of a complete breakfast.' Neat idea & hilarious execution. This short deserved the storm of attention it received

[Added 27/05/2012; Humour; 1000-2500; Calvin & Hobbes]

This Kid I Once Knew by Minnow

'Susan clicks back through a couple of previous strips and laughs out loud at Spaceman Spiff's adventures on foreign planets that turn into bathtubs and swingsets and the bathrooms at elementary school.' Wonderful piece, simultaneously clever & poignant, that works both in frame & as meta for fannish engagement with the source

[Added 25/11/2011; Character Piece; 1000-2500; Calvin & Hobbes]

Comics

Escape Artistry by David Hines

'"When a man binds an Amazon...she loses her strength."' The author deftly mixes plot, action & humour in this novella, as Batman & Wonder Woman each attempt to teach the other something. The dash of romance feels surprisingly believable

[Added 13/01/2011; Romance/Erotica; 20,000-50,000; Comics]

The Middle Way by Mithrigil

'His gangly and underfed body, beneath the wreck of his kimono, is covered in ofuda, holy seals that cling to him with paste. She doesn't know whether to remove them or not. Nobu was always so spiritual, so committed to the Way. There must be a purpose for them that she couldn't know.' A retelling of the Hulk's tragedy set in Sengoku era Japan, based on Genesischant's Sengoku Avengers. The fusion works amazingly well, & the Sengoku period is vividly conjured in well-chosen details

[Added 13/08/2015; Drama; 2500-6000; Comics; Crossover]