Fancake

Fandom: Hockey RPF
Characters/Pairings: Paul Kariya/Sirpa Selanne/Teemu Selanne
Rating: Explicit
Length: 27k
Creator Links: thefourthvine
Theme: Amnesty, Bodyswap, Disability, Family, Kidfic: Has/With Kids, M/M/F Threesomes, Mythical Creatures: Elves (how do we not have a tag for elves?), Older Characters, Threesome, Urban Fantasy

Summary: Teemu Selanne's midlife crisis: leftover elf parts.

Reccer's Notes: TEEEEEEEMU. (Gotta get it out of the way.) So if you, like me, were into all the nineties era Mercedes Lackey et al. fantasy novels where there were elves but they just kinda hung out in the real world occasionally banging humans: you're going to love this fic, it's like that only well-written. If you're not into nineties urban fantasy, I don't know what's wrong with you, but you will still love this fic, because it's also a beautiful tropefest that then looks at what the tropes really mean and your mind will be blown while also still loving your favorite trope because it is that great. It's a bodyswap fic, and it has all the "oh no my body doesn't work the way I think it will -- on no my body is HOT" trope-y goodness you expect, but it also doesn't shy away from talking about bodies in a way that isn't necessarily sexy. Paul has post-concussion syndrome and that (as well as the coping mechanisms that he's evolved to deal with it) hugely affects his daily life, in ways that only really become clear once he's in Teemu's body and is still trying to cope with a condition that isn't actually affecting him. I've also literally never seen bodyswap used to explore the question of whether sexuality is in the mind or the body before (I don't want to spoil how this goes down, but it's not sad, I promise). Teemu's family feature prominently, not as plot moppets but as interesting characters in their own right. And at the heart of it all is the idea of a friendship strong enough that you'd give somebody else your body, not knowing if you'd ever get it back, because you love and trust them so much, which is just... ugh, so good. The best. If you want to have a lot of feelings about a near-hermit introvert who understands way too much about self-sacrifice but needs to learn how much people (including but not limited to his extroverted golden retriever of a best friend and his wife) love him, grab your tissues and dive in.

Fanwork Links: You So Quite New