Yuletide 2015 recs (movies, TV, crossovers & multiple versions of canon, no canon needed)
More Yuletide recs! Let's start with movies & TV.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Today's the Day We Have to Be Romantic (6294 words) by thefourthvine
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Jake Peralta/Amy Santiago
Characters: Jake Peralta, Amy Santiago, Rosa Diaz, Ray Holt, Terry Jeffords, Charles Boyle, Gina Linetti
Additional Tags: Dating, Established Relationship, Teamwork makes the dream work
Summary: "Has it occurred to you that we're just really bad at dating?" // "When you're bad at something, you practice," Amy said firmly. "So you can get better at it."
Pitch perfect. Of course they both hyphenate. And all the slightly off kilter details, like locusts and Doug Judy and anti-metric-system rhetoric.
An Ever-Fixed Mark (4165 words) by KiaraSayre
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Kevin Cozner/Ray Holt
Characters: Kevin Cozner, Ray Holt, Jake Peralta
Additional Tags: Weddings, Schmoop, Fluff, gratuitous Latin, Slice of Life
Summary: The road to renewing their vows.
The first section was not as much to my taste as the rest, but I'm glad I kept reading, because I love the two of them together.
Margin of Error (7547 words) by idiopathicsmile
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Rosa Diaz/Amy Santiago
Characters: Rosa Diaz, Amy Santiago, Jake Peralta, Gina Linetti, Charles Boyle, Terry Jeffords
Summary: Amy had this thing where she did stuff that normally would’ve annoyed the hell out of Rosa, except it didn’t annoy Rosa at all. Which was confusing. Also, annoying.
Funny casefic with awkward pining and more just-right details.
Hellboy
some bright equation (14810 words) by Liviapenn
Chapters: 3/3
Fandom: Hellboy (Movies)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Hellboy/Liz Sherman, Hellboy & John Myers & Liz Sherman, Hellboy/John Myers/Liz Sherman
Characters: Hellboy, Liz Sherman, John Myers, Kate Corrigan
Additional Tags: Angst, Pining, Elves, Therapy, OT3, Polyfidelity, Misses Clause Challenge
Summary: After almost a year of dating Hellboy, Liz didn't think anything could surprise her any more. She was wrong.
This is set after the first movie and is really lovely, both in Liz coming into herself and in the relationships.
Inside Out
Upside Down (3401 words) by redbrickrose
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Inside Out (2015)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Riley Andersen/Original Female Character(s)
Characters: Riley Andersen, Joy (Inside Out), Sadness (Inside Out), Anger (Inside Out), Disgust (Inside Out), Fear (Inside Out)
Summary: Puberty is rough.
*sniffle* This is beautiful.
(See also The Next Big Joyride (2413 words) by fleurlb, which doesn't work quite as well for me, pace-wise, but also has satisfying speculation about Riley's future.)
Sesame Street
Exclusive Content (3964 words) by ellen_fremedon
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Sesame Street (TV)
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Cookie Monster, Count Von Count, Grover (Sesame Street), Prairie Dawn, Don Music, Biff (Sesame Street), Sully (Sesame Street), Herry Monster (Sesame Street)
Additional Tags: backstage drama, issues of representation, muppet identity politics, literary adapations, kind of a lot of annotations
Summary: In old days, Cookie think, just having monsters on television was spooky. Monsters doing classy drama was transgressive. Transgressive mean it a thing that people not expect you to do, and they think you strange when you do it. It special kind of surprise.
This is AMAZING and you should read it immediately.
And now things that are crossovers or draw from multiple versions of canon.
The Martian
I depart from alphabetical order just because there was a TON of good Martian fic this year.
Please Don't Break (Because I Can't Fix You) (10559 words) by zynnser
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Martian - Andy Weir
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Mark Watney, Rick Martinez (The Martian)
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Diary/Journal, Mark stays until Ares 4, and does lots of mostly accurate science
Summary: Name: Mark Watney // Occupation: Space Pirate // Residence: Base of Operations: Mars // Duration of Residence: November 5, 2035-September 30, 2039
This is an amazingly canon-like AU, if the Iris resupply worked and Mark stayed until the next mission landed.
Space Cool (5099 words) by cmshaw
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Martian - Andy Weir
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Mindy Park & Venkat Kapoor
Characters: Mindy Park, Venkat Kapoor, Mark Watney
Additional Tags: Space Mentoring, Space bureaucracy, Space Flight, Space Journalism, Space Politicking
Summary: Mindy asks herself, "What would an Ares astronaut do?" (Colonize a planet with potatoes, hijack a space radio, then fly into space in a vehicle with no windows. Man those folks are cool.)
Mindy!!!! Getting trained for a leadership position after; it and she are awesome.
And We Could All Use A Little Change. (2947 words) by Lanna Michaels
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Martian - Andy Weir
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Mark Watney, Chris Beck
Additional Tags: Yuletide 2015, Yuletide Treat, Alternate Universe - A/B/O, Alternate Universe - Still Astronauts, Beta Mark Watney, Alpha Mark Watney, Omega Mark Watney, sequential hermaphroditism, Fake Science, Alternate Universe - Woke Up A Different Sex, Masturbation, For Science!, Podfic Available
Summary: Mark Watney is a beta. Well, he was when he left Earth.
This is perfect but may work best if you already know what the tags & summary mean.
You Know You Have a Permanent Piece of My Medium-Sized American Heart (9151 words) by tricatular
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Martian (2015)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Mark Watney, Annie Montrose, Melissa Lewis, Chris Beck, Beth Johanssen, Rick Martinez, Alex Vogel, Vincent Kapoor, Mitch Henderson, Teddy Sanders
Additional Tags: media fic, Social Media, Post-Movie
Summary: “Hey Hermes!” The ambient suspicion level in the Rec ratcheted up significantly. Kapoor was disturbingly cheerful. “We’ve sent you some mission updates in the data dump, but Mitch and I wanted to personally let you know-” Mitch visibly rolled his eyes in the background. “-That thanks to some…strong suggestions from the White House, and on Annie and Director Sanders’ recommendation, we’ve started releasing Watney’s Mars logs to the public.”
This is present-day, not near-future, in terms of social media dynamics, but is still really fun about how the public would react and has lots of team goodness.
Don't Stop Believing. (5750 words) by Lanna Michaels
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Martian - Andy Weir
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Mark Watney/Chris Beck/Beth Johanssen
Characters: Mark Watney, Chris Beck, Beth Johanssen
Additional Tags: Yuletide 2015, Post-Canon, Future Fic, Canon Compliant, Log Entries, Superpowers, Established Relationship, F/M/M, Alternate Universe - Superpowers, Stress Baking, #yuletide Chat Challenge, Mark Watney's Mission Log
Summary: The adventures of Mark Benjamin Watney, Mars astronaut, superhero, and stress baker extraordinaire.
Going to Mars gives you superpowers. This is really touching and just excellent, and also has Mark admitting that he was an unreliable narrator, which makes it extra up my alley.
I also enjoyed reading the following fics, though I do not have much to say about them (this is no slight on them, but it is 11:30 p.m. as I'm typing this section of these recs and there are SO MANY of them): Lifehack (429 words) by neveralarch; one of us (you brought me in from the cold) (5819 words) by caphairdadbeard; So much stranger, so much better (4863 words) by often_adamanta; Touchdown brings me around again (5351 words) by norah; For Here am I Sitting in a Tin Can (3697 words) by shadowkeeper; and meals rarely edible (1395 words) by templemarker.
2001
En Prise (2761 words) by skazka
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: HAL 9000
Additional Tags: Character Study, Artificial Intelligence, Pre-Canon, Minor Character Death
Summary: In 1992, HAL is born on a college campus in Illinois.
Beautifully sad look at the developing tragedy of HAL from his POV.
Shawshank Redemption
Bahamian-Style Mooring (10370 words) by syllic
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Shawshank Redemption - All Media Types
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Andy Dufresne & Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding
Characters: Andy Dufresne, Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding
Additional Tags: Post-Movie(s), Yuletide, Platonic Life Partners, 5 Things, Sailing, Yuletide 2015
Summary: Five times Red got things in Zihuatanejo (and one time he didn’t need to get anything).
A slow, gentle look at life they build together, very satisfying.
This American Life + HP, Narnia, Captain America
This American Life episode 141: A Whole New World. (Transcript) (6334 words) by NaomiK
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: National Public Radio RPF, Captain America (Movies), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Ira Glass, Sarah Koenig, Steve Rogers, Hermione Granger, Minerva McGonagall, Susan Pevensie
Additional Tags: Crossover
Summary: From WBEZ Chicago, it's This American Life. I'm Ira Glass. Today on our radio program, we have three stories of people stepping from one world, the only world they’ve ever known, into an entirely new world. What happens when you open that door? What do you do with what you find, and -- when you look back -- how do you understand what you’ve left behind? Stay with us.
This is pitch perfect as long as you can put aside the questions of whether Hermione is violating secrecy laws & who's going to believe Susan, or whether everything is already known.
Okay, now let's squeeze in the recs for which you don't need canon.
'The Arrival' (painting)
The Water Maiden and the Ogre's Ring (6147 words) by inevitablewebreathe
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Arrival - William Mitcheson Timlin
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Female Character
Additional Tags: Fairy Tale Style, Kidnapping, Quests, Trials, Ogres, Gods, Talking Animals, Fairy tale violence
Summary: The tale of the Maiden of Many Waters, the perils of imprudence, and all that she encounters upon her quest thereafter.
An excellent original fairy tale. You can see the painting here.
'Expert Judgment on Markers to Deter Inadvertent Human Intrusion into the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant'
The Case for Human Intrusion into the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (7337 words) by Slant
Chapters: 4/4
Fandom: Markers to Deter Inadvertent Human Intrusion into the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant -Sandia labs
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Original Characters
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Future, Bureaucracy, reports, health and safety
Summary: "Under radical discontinuity, society would have gone through considerable changes--political, social, and technological--that might impact existing knowledge bases, languages, and institutional controls and memory."...
So there was this report in the 1990s about how to safely label nuclear waste over a very, very long period. I have not read the report, which is 351 pages in PDF, but here's a Slate article summarizing and critiquing it. From this, this story spins out really great SF worldbuilding of what finding these sites might look like after a radical discontinuity, in three parts (plus a pastiche that wasn't in the file I downloaded before reveals).
Pyramid Schemes (4131 words) by primeideal
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Expert Judgment on Markers to Deter Inadvertent Human Intrusion... - Sandia Labs
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Jo (Expert Judgment on Markers... - Sandia Labs)/Linda (Expert Judgment on Markers... - Sandia Labs)
Characters: Jo (Expert Judgment on Markers to Deter Inadvertent Human Intrusion... - Sandia Labs), Linda (Expert Judgment on Markers to Deter Inadvertent Human Intrusion... - Sandia Labs)
Additional Tags: 5+1 Things, Multiple Alternate Universes, Post-Apocalypse, Yuletide 2015
Summary: Five worlds Jo and Linda didn't see the signs, and one where they held together.
There's also this more personal exploration of different possibilities, in the classic fannish "five things (plus one)" format.
Two Monks
Two Monks Invent Fandom (1054 words) by Kyra
Chapters: 2/2
Fandom: Two Monks Inventing Things (The Toast)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Monk #1, Monk #2
Additional Tags: Absurd, Futurism, 21st Century, Science Fiction, Multimedia, Humor, Yuletide, Yuletide 2015, Robots, Fandom, Meta, Historical, Historical Inaccuracy, Fandom Allusions & Cliches & References, Work Contains Fan(s) or Fandom(s), Metafiction, Silly
Summary: Two medieval monks invent fandom and the twenty-first century.
What it says on the tin; perfect.
See also: win me, win me, an ye will, discussed under books/Cho; and So Sick of That Same Old Love (3562 words) by Iphys, discussed under books/Virgil.
One more!
comment(s) | add comment ( how-to) | link