HL Exchange Fest '19 recs

I'd planned to share some recommendations from the '19 HL exchange as soon as the authors were revealed, but the timing didn't work out. So, a little late, here are some personal favorites from the most recent HL fest. See their whole '19 AO3 collection. (There were 21 stories.)

"Only Light" by Killabeez. Duncan/Tessa, Richie, Joe. ~4K words.
Killa wrote this for my request, so no surprise that it's a favorite. This wholly transported me to second season, my heart of canon. The characters' voices are true, the brushes against canon keen, and the depiction of Tessa outstanding. (Ever wonder why they went, overdressed, to that bar in "The Darkness?" Killa has.) There's a tight tension that stretches and stretches, until it suddenly snaps into the relief of an AU's open new horizon. (If you like, this could be the "what if?" that eventually leads to Killa's classic "All that Glitters.")

"Every Night a Party" by merriman. Richie, Gregor. ~3K words.
This highly-canon-aware "years later" lets us spend a few hours with a Richie who has been granted time to grow up, and a Gregor who has managed to grapple with his mental health, in their peculiar context as immortals, where they will always look younger than, in a way, they ever really were. There's a little boys-will-be-boys -- it's Richie and Gregor -- but then a surprisingly satisfying snap when a limit is reached.

"Apocalypsis Mundi" by havocthecat. Mainly Amanda and Methos. Also Duncan, Cassandra, Darius, Rebecca, and a few others. ~12K words.
This fast-moving mission is the Amanda-and-Methos post-apocalyptic adventure that I mentioned before author reveals. The concept bursts out of the TV series canon as if through a palette of the HLII movie (the good stuff in the Renegade Cut, not Zeist). Of the many intriguing concepts, I found the most interesting to be "the shades of unclaimed quickenings," followed by a deep, on-two-levels reconstruction of the Methuselah Stone, including it first coming into Rebecca's hands.

"Earth Laughs In Flowers" by hafital. Duncan/Methos, Joe. ~14K words.
A pinch of time travel, a dash of a multiverse, a refashioning of dark and light quickenings. A main dish of domesticity... smashed by a swordfight. A gut-punch of loss, regret, betrayal, sacrifice, repentance, and more sacrifice. With a happy ending. Also, kittens. (I didn't entirely get the kittens. But they carry plot points, so they're fine.)

"Ravens, Circling" by mackiedockie. Joe, Duncan, Methos, Richie. ~12K words.
This year's winner of both the "Most like an episode" and "Most books" trophies! Joe is depicted with special excellence and appreciation (of course; it's Mackiedockie), but all the characters are richly in-character, the necessary OCs are absolutely first-class, and the overall pacing is so canon-like that you practically sense where the commercials would go.

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