Fanfic Recommendation Challenge

My table.

Claim: The OC, Seth/Ryan
Title: Down The Rabbit Hole
Author: pettydetails
Characters: Seth/Ryan, Ben/Adam
Prompt: Crack!fic
Rating: unrated
Length: medium
Brief summary: It's wonderfully dreamlike and very surreal, and yet it's got a very realistic quality to it as well. It's also a very subtle inspection of season two's quality, but from Ryan/Ben's POV. ( Excerpts. )
Link to the story: Down The Rabbit Hole

Claim: The OC, Seth/Ryan
Title: Driftwood
Author: serialkarma
Characters: Seth/Ryan
Prompt: Light
Rating: unrated
Length: Medium
Brief summary: Ryan gets hold of Seth's iPod. Heh. It's cute and fun, and Seth is characteristically dorky and precious. Very reminiscent of early s1 Seth, who is awesome. ( Excerpts. )
Link to the story: Driftwood


Claim: The OC, Seth/Ryan
Title: The League of Dumbasses
Author: sloanesomething
Characters: Seth. Ryan. Summer. Marissa.
Prompt: Non-Con
Rating: G
Length: medium
Brief summary: So, heh. I cheated. This is non-con because Seth forces Summer, Ryan, and Marissa to go out and fight crime in Newport, and none of them want to. It's more pre-Ryan/Summer than Seth/Ryan specific, but it's so simple and beautifully written, and it's a great read. ( Examples. )
Link to the story: The League of Dumbasses

My Table.

Also, I've reposted the rec for somethin_random's Why Seth Cohen Was Not Meant To Have A Roommate, or Four Little Ways To Drive Seth Crazy, and the fic has been unflocked. Sorry!

Claim: The OC, Seth/Ryan
Title: Fingerprint Wounds
Author: 142978
Characters: Seth/Ryan
Prompt: Loss
Rating: G
Length: Short
Brief summary: This fic is like watching the pilot on fastforward and hitting play for a series of seconds. It's a *wonderful* glimpse into Seth's perspective during the events in the pilot and into Ryan leaving. It's also a great idea of how Ryan came back after he and Sandy realized that his mom abandoned him. 142978 paints a vivid picture in very few words - her Seth is very pensive and sensitive, and the idea that he cares so much about someone he's known for so little time and is so saddened by his departure - it's very, very plausible and bittersweet. ( Excerpts. )
Link to the story: Fingerprint Wounds

My Table.

Claim: The OC, Seth/Ryan
Title: The Earth Shattered
Author: khohen1
Characters: Seth/Ryan
Prompt: Hurt/Comfort
Rating: PG-13
Length: Medium
Brief summary: khohen1 explores how Ryan would handle comforting Seth in a tough situation, and does a wonderful job with that. Most h/c fics I've seen have been the other way around, so it was interesting to see how Ryan would assume the position of assuring Seth everything will be okay. It's executed in a way that could totally have been canon, if they'd gone in that direction, and her portrayal of Ryan is *fantastic*. ( Excerpts under the cut. )
Link to the story: The Earth Shattered


Claim: The OC, Seth/Ryan
Title: I [Heart] Captain Oats
Author: kissingchaos9
Characters: Seth/Ryan
Prompt: Teamwork
Rating: PG
Length: Medium
Brief summary: Ohhhh, teamwork, how I love thee. This is a story that's just adorable and fun and cute, and I just love it. kissingchaos9 writes about Captain Oats getting lost, and Seth and Ryan looking for him. Ryan assumes a very big-brother-except-with-non-brotherly-kissing role in this fic, by taking charge when Seth freaks out (because, really, Seth totally *would* freak out if he lost Captain Oats) and helping Seth find him. As always, her Seth voice is brilliant, and his freaking out is very in-character. *Very* in-character. ( Examples. )

It's fun and silly and yet kissingchaos9 is still able to retain some subtle sweetness in this fic.
Link to the story: I [Heart] Captain Oats

My Table.

Claim: The OC, Seth/Ryan
Title: Recall
Author: slodwick
Characters: Seth/Ryan
Prompt: Love
Rating: G
Length: Short
Brief summary: This is such a beautiful fic in so few words!! It's Ryan's POV, looking at life before compared to life after moving in with the Cohens. I've always thought it would be interesting to get inside Ryan's head and just listen, and slodwick does exactly that. This sounds exactly like I would think Ryan's inner monologue would sound - it's very carefully worded and deliberate, and the setting is so simple and peaceful and perfect. ( Excerpts. )
Link to the story: Recall


Claim: The OC, Seth/Ryan
Title: Ties That Bind
Author: pinn2480
Characters: Seth/Ryan
Prompt: Friendship
Rating: G
Length: Medium
Brief summary: This is post-s2 finale, and it's Ryan and Seth, talking by the pool. This fic assumes that Trey actually died during hiatus, so it has a sort of darker undertone laced with uncertainty and, ultimately, relief. It's as if, in this fic, Ryan is finally able to accept the Cohens as his family, instead of keeping himself distanced just enough by his "real" family. He's very mellow and thoughtful, in a sort of in-shock kind of way, if that makes any sense. Also, pinn2480's Seth is very supportive and friendly, like the Seth everyone loves but Josh and Co. sometimes forget ever existed.
( Excerpts. )
Link to the story: Ties That Bind

My Table.

Claim: The OC, Seth/Ryan
Title: Lex F***ing Luthor
Author: boundbyspells
Characters: Seth/Ryan
Prompt: Fluff
Rating: R
Length: Medium
Brief summary: This isn't exactly a *fluffy* fic, but it's cute and the perfect amount of teenage angst. Seth is kept awake - subconsciously - by Ryan on a date, and he watches Smallville to pass the time. boundbyspells's Seth is *very* appropriately dramatic, and this fic feels like one of those fics that could totally have been an episode. ( Examples. )
Link to the story: Lex F***ing Luthor

Claim: The OC, Seth/Ryan
Title: Silk
Author: barely_bean
Characters: Seth/Ryan
Prompt: Sex
Rating: R
Length: Medium
Brief summary: Guhhhh, Seth and Ryan and silk pajamas. This is a wonderful mix of humor and hotness, and the dialogue is awesome. ( Examples. )

It's a s1 fic, so it still has that new friendship sense of uncertainty and awkwardness, and just enough of it to make it feel like it could be canon.
Link to the story: Silk

My Table.

Claim: The OC, Seth/Ryan
Title: Go Lightly Down
Author: torchthisnow
Characters: Seth/Ryan
Prompt: Discovery
Rating: unrated
Length: Medium
Brief summary: This story is filled with awesome lines and moments. It's a story from Kirsten's POV, where Seth and Ryan tell her and Sandy that they're together. Seth is very characteristically nervous and rambly, while Ryan is terrified of disappointing them. Kirsten and Sandy's reactions to the news is exactly how I'd think they would react, were Seth/Ryan canon. Sandy is just so *Sandy* in this fic, and Kirsten is so motherly and perfect - the characterization is *brilliant*.

( Excerpts. )
Link to the story: Go Lightly Down


Claim: The OC, Seth/Ryan
Title: how am i without you
Author: pinn2480
Characters: Seth/Ryan
Prompt: Break-Up
Rating: R
Length: Medium
Brief summary: This fic broke my heart when I first read it, and even now when I re-read it. Pinn has an amazing ability to capture these moments and just make your heart *ache* for the boys, and this is no exception. The story is post-breakup, with flashbacks of pre-breakup woven in, and it's told through a series of phone calls between Ryan and Seth and even one between Ryan and Zach. ( Examples & Excerpts. )

In the end - and through the entire story itself, really, but especially in the end - it's very quietly painful, and it almost feels like just the beginning to a much more painful time in both of their lives, and it's absolutely *amazing*.
Link to the story: how am i without you

My table.

Claim: The OC, Seth/Ryan
Title: Telegraph Avenue
Author: hackthis
Characters: Seth/Jamie. Seth/Ryan.
Prompt: Original Character
Rating: R
Length: long
Brief summary: The character of Jamie is one of my favorites in fic. It can be difficult to write and read original characters in fanfic--for me, it's usually because I can picture the characters from the show and see them doing the things in the fic, but when an original character is involved, it's harder to put them in with the established characters. But hackthis has written Jamie so well in this fic, it's almost as if he's a character on the show. He fits so well with Seth, and in parts five and six, especially, it *hurts* to read what's going on. There are several other original characters woven in with Seth and everyone, who are equally as well written, but Jamie always stands out because he has such a prominent role in the story. Additionally, aside from the original characters, this fic is told from Seth's POV and is so wonderfully done, it's as if you're inside his head and watching this whole story happen. hackthis has also written an epilogue to Telegraph Avenue, focusing mainly on Jamie and Ian, called Check Your Head.
Link to the story: Telegraph Avenue

Claim: The OC, Seth/Ryan
Title: "H" is for "Houdini," and also "Handcuffs"
Author: serialkarma
Characters: Seth/Ryan
Prompt: Seduction
Rating: R
Length: medium
Brief summary: Seduction at it's finest -- Seth seducing Ryan, so naturally, there are unexpected flaws in his plan, but he's ultimately successful. It's funny in the beginning, especially when Seth is alone in the room, waiting for Ryan. And when Ryan does come back, it's even funnier, seeing Seth try to explain himself out of the situation. The dialogue stays very believable through the entire fic, and it's one of those stories that could *totally* happen in canon, if Josh and co. were taking the show in a different direction. :)
Link to the story:"H" is for "Houdini," and also "Handcuffs"

Claim: The OC; Seth/Ryan
Title: Rent
Author: misspamela
Characters: Seth/Ryan
Prompt: AU
Rating: NC-17
Length: long
Brief summary: "Just another hooker AU." Seth meets Ryan in Chino, and Ryan is a "working boy," and just gah. Her Seth voice is perfect, and the situation is at times funny, at times bittersweet, and completely wonderfully written. It's Seth's POV, and even his inner monologue is completely in-character.
Link to the story: Rent

Claim: The OC; Seth/Ryan
Title: Chatter
Author: geekwriter143
Characters: Seth/Ryan
Prompt: Character Study
Rating: PG
Length: medium
Brief summary: This is one of those fics where you read it and you can hear it in your head. The dialogue, the actions, everything. It's like a snippet from an episode, and I can see it and hear it and everything. It's like, if Josh wrote fic, this would be his fic. It's also just an adorable few scenes, some great peeks into Seth and Ryan's friendship/relationship, and great discussion about both.
Link to the story: Chatter