Twin Peaks recs: Cooper/Albert & other favorites

[amatara]

So Twin Peaks is not a huge fandom, at least not where fanfic is concerned. This is, admittedly, a little sad. And my favorite corner of it, being everything that involves both Dale Cooper and Albert Rosenfield, is even smaller. (Though, really, not quite as small as you’d think. I haven’t done the math, but I strongly suspect that if you count both the gen and the slash, Coop/Albert might well be the fandom’s pairing that’s inspired the most fanfic so far – more than, say, Cooper/Audrey or Cooper/Truman, both of which could be considered more ‘likely’ pairings.)

In any case, fic about these guys isn’t that easy to find, which is why I think it’s high time to compile a little rec list – both for my own convenience, and for that of anyone else interested. Because, you know, the beautiful thing about Twin Peaks fic being so rare, is that nearly everything that gets written is good, even great… which is worth a lot to me, as well! So here are my favorite Cooper/Albert stories, both gen and slash, as well as a number of Twin Peaks fics centered around other characters. The former list is pretty well-researched, the latter’s just a random collection of fics that stuck in my mind, not meant in any way to be complete. I sorted them chronologically, and marked my absolute personal favorites with an asterisk, but really, imho these are all good.

My main resources are The Bookhouse Boys slash archive, the Twin Peaks tags on the Archive Of Our Own (AO3) and FanFiction.net (which contain a slightly different selection), as well as the assorted Yuletide (a yearly rare-fandom fic exchange) archive. If there’s another, please, tell me. :) And naturally, if I left out any fics that you think deserve a mention here, or that I might have missed altogether, I’d be a very happy camper if you’d point them out to me!


Cooper/Albert recs:

* Coincidence by DBKate (1999). Mild slash.
Albert goes to Twin Peaks expecting bad news. Set in early second season, just after Cooper’s shooting. I’d say, in the genre of mild slash with hurt/comfort undertones, this is still my absolute favorite. Beautifully weaved into canon, a great Albert voice, and an ending that’s sweet without ever losing its wit in the process.

* Last Dance by DBKate (1999). Definitely slash, PG-13 to (mild) R.
Cooper and Albert undercover in a gay bar – references the famous scene from the novel My Life, My Tapes. Another favorite, witty and sweet and more than a little hot, and has the best opening and closing lines I’ve seen in any Twin Peaks fic.

* The Secret Tapes of Dale Cooper and The Private Letters of Albert Rosenfield by Dorothy Marley (1999). R-ish.
The story of Dale and Albert’s first sexual encounter, told from two different points of view. The Albert part (a letter to his grandma, in which he’s every bit his acerbic self) is especially good – funny and snarky, but also quite touching in an unexpected way. Albert’s granny seems like a great lady. :)

Wonderful by DBKate (1999). Slash, rated R.
Set mid-series, just after Leland Palmer's death. Albert thinks about Dale Cooper. Short, introspective and lovely. Also has such great lines as Needing Dale Cooper was like being addicted to potato chip collecting.

* Passover by Serin (2000). Gen/preslash.
Dale spends Passover with Albert and his family – the tapes tell the tale. Short, subtle and adorable. Cooper’s tape-recorder voice is just perfect. And I love Albert’s family. *g*

A Beautiful Thing by Serin (2000). Slash, R-ish?
Post-finale. BOB’s looking for some easy fun, and goes for the softest target he can find… or does he, really? Chilling and painful. Poor, brave Albert.

Healing the Living by Polly Hammer (2000). Basically gen with UST.
Pre-series case-fic. Albert discovers the limits of Dale's stoicism. Hurt/Comfort fic that allows Albert to indulge in a fantasy he’s had for years. And, aw, bless the man for having fantasies as chaste as this. Very sweet look at how Albert feels about Cooper.

Keeping Awake by Tiriel (2000). Between R and NC-17, your mileage may vary.
Albert reflects on his history with Cooper – how those months after Caroline died were the closest the two of them ever came, and how it’s never been the same since. Heartbreaking and intense.

* Once and Future King by CJ Marlowe (2003). Mild slash.
Post-finale. Four years later, Cooper and Albert return to Twin Peaks to deal with another case. Beautiful piece with a great Cooper voice, that provides closure to Cooper’s possession storyline in quite a subtle way – probably my favourite of the various post-canon resolution pieces. Bittersweet and moving.

* The Void and the Cloudless Sky by amonitrate (2007). Gen.
"Don't be afraid," Cooper said, and Leland Palmer let out his last breath. One of many different takes on what happened after Leland died. This one’s pure gen, but I love it even more for that – a deep, lovely, very real look at how Cooper and Albert both cope with this in their own way.

* And the Devil Makes Three by Nemo_the_Everbeing (2009). Gen.
In 1981 the FBI's newest forensic pathologist gets an invitation to a crime scene, and then a further invitation to strike at one of the roots of evil. He is less than thrilled. Fantastic pre-series case fic that details Cooper and Albert’s first meeting, and subsequent first case. This was, in fact, written for me as a Yuletide present last Christmas, and I’ve already lost count on how often I’ve re-read it since then. Brilliant dialogue, great plot with lots of references to canon, and creepy as hell.

All Things Bright and Beautiful by St_Aurafina (2010). Mild slash.
Dale has something he'd like to ask of Albert. A "first kiss" fic that’s very much them, short but sweet in all the good ways.

* Wait for You by Ingridmatthews (2010). Mild slash.
After Leland Palmer's demise, Albert and Cooper reunite. Another take on Leland’s death, and how it affected Albert in particular. I love the sense of connection between them here, and Albert, when confused and nicotine-deprived, is adorable. *cuddles Albert*

If Spock were a Quaker and Other Random Thoughts by Peapods (2010). Slash, NC-17.
Albert knows a few things about Dale Cooper. And Star Trek. There isn’t that much Cooper/Albertfic around that dares to cross the line towards explicit sex, and I’m quite picky about the ones that do (as I’m picky about NC-17 fics in general) but this one really works for me.

Wireless Connection by Peapods (2010). Slash, NC-17.
Post-canon. Cooper and Albert have settled into a quiet life.

Exhaustion by Peapods (2010). Slash, NC-17.
Cooper has his own methods to combat sleep deprivation.


... and I wrote some of my own, as well, because this list can never be long enough. *g* (links go to AO3, though all of these are on my LJ too)

Damaged Goods (2009). Gen.
Albert reflects on weakness and strength, and where Dale Cooper fits in. Another fic set after Leland's death.

Wake Up and Face the Music (2010). Slash, PG-13 to R.
Post-finale. Albert finds himself dealing with a subtly changed Cooper - but how does one fight an inhabiting spirit? My own attempt at a resolution for Cooper's storyline.

Elegy in Five Movements (2010). Gen.
Pre-canon. Dale Cooper, in those weeks after Caroline's death. Five times Albert tries to make a difference.

Cold Comfort (2010). Gen.
Autopsies are intimate things from whatever perspective. They're also very suited for long-overdue conversations. Albert Rosenfield, Dale Cooper, Maddy Ferguson, and the intricacies of coping.

Beds Are Burning (2010). Slash, rated R.
That evil exists doesn’t mean the world is all wrong. Cooper and Albert back at the Great Northern, picking up the pieces after Leland’s death.

Flashes of Light (2010). Slash, rated R to NC-17.
When he's out here, he's never sure how long he'll stay. The Lodge is always calling. Sometimes he barely lasts at all. Post-finale. Dale Cooper, Albert Rosenfield, Laura Palmer, and the Black Lodge.

The Magnificent Tree (2010). Gen/pre-slash.
'Write a report, they said. Just write down everything that happened – no sweat, we'll handle it from there.' Pre-canon case-gone-awry fic, mostly fluff/humor, with a sprinkling of angst and a touch of h/c.

Five Times Albert Rosenfield Lied (and once he only thought he did) (2010). Gen.
Five moments in Albert Rosenfield's FBI career where he didn't tell the brutal truth, and one where he did without even knowing.
Not a happy story, but meant, at least, to be a hopeful one.

Suburban Dreams (2010). Slash, PG-13.
Pre-canon. My take on the 'undercover in a gay bar' scene from Cooper's biography My Life, My Tapes, as an attempt to explain how Cooper and Albert might have hooked up.

 

Other characters and pairings:

Way Ahead of You by Serin (2001). Albert Rosenfield/Harry Truman – sort of. Slash, rated NC-17.
Albert and Harry talk on the phone. I don’t really see Albert and Truman as anything beyond buddies myself, but in a strange kind of way, this one works for me (even though it’s more explicit than what I’d normally go for in fic). Hell, if Albert’d talk dirty to me like that on the phone, I wouldn’t complain either. *g*

Blue Velvet to Moon River by Gabihime (2005). Cooper/Audrey, R.
Dale Cooper and Audrey Horne a few hours before breakfast. I’m one of those who like how the relationship between Cooper and Audrey was played out in the show, so I don’t usually see them as a romantic ship, but this fic pulls it off so beautifully that I can’t help but love it. Audrey is her brilliant, enigmatic self, and Cooper struggles with principles and self-imposed rules and, in the end, is forced to concede the rules don’t always apply. Audrey’s the strong one in this story, which makes it even better.

Victory by XParrot (2005). Dale Cooper & Harry Truman. Gen.
Post-finale. Good will always triumph over evil; that doesn't mean it's a happy ending. I love how the author had the courage to end Cooper’s possession storyline on a less than optimistic note, and it’s beautifully done. Painful, deep, dark, real, and very very them.

Bardo by Amonitrate (2008).
What's black and white and red all over? Dale Cooper in the Black Lodge. Creepy, fragmentary, and quite simply brilliant.

Nothing Left to Hide by Ingridmatthews (2009). Bobby Briggs, James Hurley, Shelley Johnson. R-ish.
Loathing often covers so much. Great, unexpected, screwed-up Bobby POV, and to say anything more would be saying too much, really.

I Am a Lonely Soul by Smercy (2008). Maddy Ferguson & Dale Cooper.
Maddy and Agent Cooper trapped in the Black Lodge. Brilliant mindfuck of a fic, circular and confusing and claustrophobic.

I’ll Take a Quiet Life by Smercy (2009). Gen. Norma Jennings & various other characters.
Seven conversations that Norma has had over seven different foods. Beautiful collection of vignettes that link Norma to the various other residents and visitors of Twin Peaks.


Enjoy the prettiness! And as I mentioned, any recs to fics that I'd missed before will be received with much squee!