If I Could Turn Back Time / by Menacherie (PG-13)

Title: If I Could Turn Back Time
Author: Menacherie 
Fandom: Teen Wolf
Pairings: Derek/Stiles
Genre: Alternate Reality, Family, Romance
Length: Short (Words: 5,502)

Author's Summary:
Stiles wakes up in a world in which Kate Argent was never born.

Review:
This is so sweet.  It's a story about being able to give someone you love something impossible that they really need.  It's just such a feel-good fic.

If I Could Turn Back Time (on AO3)

Inheritance; United Federation of Rare Species; and Waifs and Strays / by LittleBounce (PG-15)

Title: Inheritance; United Federation of Rare Species; and Waifs and Strays
Author: LittleBounce 
Fandom: Grimm
Genre: General
Length: Long (Words: 125,099)
Warnings: OC-centric, contains Britishisms

Author's Summary:
1. There are some elements of life pre-Grimm that Nick doesn't want back, like bad memories, overbearing women, or strangers bearing dodgy gifts... Some blasts from the past take a little time to get used to.
2. To help Hank acclimatise to Nick's new way of life, he and Monroe take Hank on a Boys' Grand Night Out to a wesen club. But things do not go to plan and when things get really wild, Nick finds his little band of brothers growing wider than he'd expected... (significant Nick whump; minor Monroe whump, OCs introduced, and some angst).
3. Nick's having trouble with his Grimm-life-work balance. Just because Nick is pretty open minded about the type of wesen that wander into his life these days (not all the 'villains' are villainous) it doesn't mean he wants to adopt them en masse. But one little guy is in a whole lot more trouble than he's letting on and needs a Grimm and his 'big gun' pals to come to his rescue...

Review:
Okay, so before I go any further... the warnings: yes, this is OC-centric and yes, this OC ticks quite a few Gary Stu boxes.  I don't care.  Maybe its because I have a serious weakness for strong, clever characters who really need a hug, but I like Jan so *shrugs*.  This fic is also written by a British author using mostly British English.  I've lived both sides of the pond and I started in the Harry Potter fandom so the whole Americanisms/Britishisms thing is a non-issue for me --- your mileage may vary.

What I would like to see changed about this fic... I think a few of those Gary Stu boxes could be unticked without changing the essential story.  I'd like to see the whole alpha/eighth royal house thing cut.  Make Jan a regular Lowen - he can still keep the charisma and natural leadership skills without that level of biological determinism.  Following on from that, if Jan's just an ordinary guy, pedigree-wise, he (and Renard) will have some serious choices to make - Jan could stay as a regular guy working his way up in the police department, he could be a good royalist and join Renard and use his skills to help strengthen Renard's position, or he could challenge Renard and take the story down a plot exploring alternatives and opposition to the Royal Families.  Having these choices could change Renard's role in the story too (and by having him not be steamrolled by an OC with a higher royal rank than him unticks another Gary Stu box), because for each option Jan has, Renard could react in a number of ways (and he could react in anticipation as well) which has the potential for a lot more plot.

On to the reasons I like this fic... I think it's a great gen!fic series in a fandom that does a lot of under-developed ship!fic.  It's well-written and very, very detailed, with fantastic characterizations.  I like how the characters are kept busy - it makes the world seem more real and alive somehow, perhaps just in comparison to the standard Monster Of The Week and ship!fic formats.  I also really like that Nick gets to have a strong support network of people who know about Wesen and I especially like stories that have Wesen cops.  It all just sets Nick up as a more normal guy living in the mostly-real world as opposed to the dark hero who has to fght desperate and alone to hold the line against the Dark.  We've already seen one Wesen cop briefly in canon so there ought to be others, especially in a canton that seems to have a place for a lot of Wesen (probably because its hard to find that kind of community without also ending up with a ruler trying to grind the population under the heel of a jackboot).  And yet, the author manages to walk a reasonable line between canon's isolation of Nick (as The Chosen One) and the fanon Nick as adopter of every wayward Wesen.  And if all those lovely thing weren't enough, this story made me laugh... a lot (it's not a humor fic, it just has funny people in it).

Inheritance; United Federation of Rare Species; and Waifs and Strays (on ff.net)