YULETIDE RECS, PART ONE
While I was doing my year-end memes before LJ decided to EAT THEM, I realized that last year I had posted two sets of Yuletide recs AND finished Yuletide completely by DECEMBER THIRTIETH, which is fucking insane because not only was I pretty busy with Marbles, I also DIDN'T HAVE A COMPUTER and had to do all my reading either on my phone or on my mom's computer. DECEMBER THIRTIETH? HOW?
Anyway here's most what I've got so far [DEAR AUTHORS I HAVEN'T LEFT COMMENTS ON MOST OF THESE YET BECAUSE I'M A HUMAN DISASTER BUT I'M GOING TO!!!!!!!!!!], I'll do the other half ten years from now when I'm done:
MARVEL
The Adventures of Jackpot and Zombie Girl - After Peter Parker dies, Mary Jane Watson and Gwen Stacy decide to go out and fight crime.
“We’re superheroes!” Gwen whoops, throwing their joined hands up in the air.
“We took out a guy with a water pistol!” Mary Jane corrects through her laughter. “We have no powers!”
Five Must-Dos for When Your Best Friend id a Superhero - Ganke and Miles BFF fic, YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS.
Miles is the coolest kid he knows, and sometimes when he thinks he can't figure out why Miles isn't over the moon about his new powers, he remembers that day in the alley, Miles half invisible and looking terrified out of his mind, crying and saying no no no. He always remembers understanding then, even if he doesn't understand now.
That One Special Person You Want to Annoy for the Rest of Your Life - Beyond what I've read in this year's Yuletide fics IDK who Kate Bishop is but she's ALSO Hawkeye and she and Clint Barton are undercover on a cruise ship posing as newlyweds AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT MORE YOU WANT ME TO SAY TO SELL YOU ON THAT CONCEPT.
"That's a terrible thing to say to your fake husband."
"I think it's a great thing to say to my fake husband. A good, healthy sign for the amount of honesty that's going to be in our fake marriage," Kate says.
DCU
The Story So Far (10 Years Later) - I CAN'T EVEN WITH THIS!!!!!!!!!!!! It's a very sweet look at the future post-Batgirl, and it combines three of my favorite things: Steph as Nightwing, Steph/Dick, and Steph's illustrated guide to Batfamily history.
“But eventually when Dick got to keep being Batman, Damian didn’t want to be a sidekick anymore. So he got a new costume and started calling himself Xu'ffasch.”
“That is a really weird word,” said Sarah.
“Yeah, it means bat in Arabic. I think Damian likes that no one can spell it.”
Family Ties - ALFRED TAKING CARE OF DICK WHEN HE GETS HURT OR SICK OR DRUGGED! MURDER ME!
“It’s okay, Alfred,” Dick said far too cheerfully for someone caught in a fireman’s carry by the Batman. He gave him a jaunty wave; Alfred was unsurprised to find his hand covered in blood. “This is not my first rodeo!” He paused, then said, “Which is funny because I’m pretty sure this has also happened to me at a rodeo.”
ZOMBIELAND
ZOMBIELAND FIC IS BASICALLY ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS ABOUT YULETIDE EVERY YEAR. GOD BLESS ZOMBIELAND FIC.
Field Greens - Ugh the worst thing about surviving the zombie apocalypse would be having to grow your own food FOREVER, which is why I'm glad I totally won't survive it.
Columbus looked down at the plate and then back up at Tallahassee. "What was going to get anything on them? They're plants!"
Wichita grimaced. "So, maybe that's deer urine vinaigrette?"
Chocolate Chip Pancakes at the End of the World - UMMMMMMMMMMMM WICHITA AND TALLAHASSEE AND PANCAKES AND STUBBORN/RELUCTANT DISCUSSION OF FEELINGS?
"I didn't take you for the type who did nice things for people who weren't family."
"I don't."
THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: OCARINA OF TIME/MAJORA'S MASK
The Last Night - Three looks at Anju[/Kafei] on the third night! I'VE BEEN OBSESSED WITH ANJU/KAFEI SINCE I WAS TWELVE SO THIS IS GR8.
“Not to sound ungracious,” Kafei said, “but that moon either needs to fall or not.”
Somewhere Not Alone - Zelda and Skull Kid, post-Ocarina of Time.
Once, she sees a boy at the tree line, standing and watching. Two shimmering fairy orbs hover about, dancing to the woodwind song he plays.
Her heart leaps, then stumbles, falls; she does not hear her old ocarina, but pan flutes; the boy is too small, ungrown, shaded and dark in his forest-wrought clothes. He can not be her Link.
RPF
Another Dime in the Jukebox - Jason Sudeikis/Kristen Wiig with pining and casual sex!
He shakes his head at her, still trying to suppress his smile -- he’s such a masochist, he doesn’t even know why he’s smiling. It’s just that it’s nice to see her, have her next to him at four on a Sunday morning again, moving lights from the dance floor dimly sliding over her hair. It’s blonder again -- he wonders if she and Fabrizio are even still together. “Stop pretending you haven’t already asked somebody if she’s here,” Jason says. “You’re the worst liar.”
I'm an Optimist (You're a Clean Slate, Baby) - RENNER/JOHANNSON BESTIES WITH BENEFITS BUT ALSO FEELINGS OVER THE COURSE OF A DECADE????
"So, Jeremy, how hard was it not to hurt Scarlett at all?"
"We hurt each other," he clarifies, in response to the (inherently sexist) question. Scarlett shoots him a skeptical look.
"Did I?" she asks. "Did I really hurt you?"
"Yeah, you broke my heart."
"Awwww."
MULAN - TWISTED PRINCESSES
there will be killing ('til the score is paid - If the war's over, her father won't have to fight.
Mulan leaves the arrows that have struck her where they are. They don't hurt, and she almost likes the way they look.
Or maybe it's the spirit who does.
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
Our Last Days as Children - THIS IS JULIE/RIGGINS AND I WISH IT WERE LIKE A BILLION WORDS LONG, but it's gorgeous as-is.
Julie walks into Tim’s shop, asking how much an oil change is.
Tim looks up, grease spread across his knuckles and under his chin, and says, “For everyone else or for you?
A WRINKLE IN TIME
Wordless - Calvin vignettes!
She bears him up as she bears the fara up, giving of herself just by being there. And now he knows it: part of what he senses from her is that he loves her, and from this love grows all the love he'll need to survive this.
THE ADVENTURES OF PETE AND PETE
take my name - Pete and Pete and the end of the world.
He dreams about Ellen and Teddy, dreams about playing trombone and laying out on the front yard while his parents read books in their lawn chairs. He dreams about his little brother staging war on the adults with his own personal superhero. No, Pete doesn’t really think about his dreams.
WHIP IT
You Are My Fifth Avenue - True story, I only ever saw half of Whip It, BUT THIS IS GOOD ALL THE SAME.
“Your earrings are really cool,” Bliss said to her. “Did you make them yourself?”
Pash had.
MATILDA
Hopes and Fears and Fidgets - If I had my way there would be Matilda fic every year. It never occurred to me until I hit the section in this about Lavender and fireworks but I would KILL for a long Lavender and Matilda friendship fic, the tone the author hit for them was just so appealing to me!
"That's probably right," Dr Pritchard replies. "You're a very bright young lady. Have you ever considered becoming a doctor?"
"A little," she says. "But I think I'd want to be a nurse instead. They're the ones who really know what's going on."
BEN AND KATE
A Very Fox-y Christmas - I can see an episode going exactly like this.
“...I’m not saying there isn’t blood all over your couch. But maybe, if you decided not to look under the sheet, everyone would be a lot happier.”
THE WEST WING/PARKS AND REC
An Unexpected Visitor - Sam Seaborn accidentally ends up in Pawnee; Andy thinks Chris has been replaced with a pod person.
"What if I do have questions about my sex life?" Andy asked.
"Then you can call Ron."
"Ew, no," said April.
"You can call me," Donna said, and nodded at April. "Don't worry girl, I got your back."
THE SCORPIO RACES
Not Alexander, Nor Bucephalus - SCREAMING OVER THIS ABSOLUTELY PERFECT POST-BOOK FIC.
Sean, especially. He falls asleep at night with his hand over her belly, fingers spread wide, palm solid against the heat of her. They've never bothered to marry, much to the dismay of Father Mooneyham and the women in town. It's never been the sort of thing that bothers them. And Puck likes it, a bit--likes knowing that the eyes on her when she walks through town are watching her because she makes her own decisions, and tosses their judgement back in their faces. She did it when she rode in the Races, and she's doing it now, and they can all take a walk down to the water's edge if they don't like it.
CAN'T HARDLY WAIT
In the Middle of the Ride - A great look at Denise and Kenny after college and how it feels to figure yourself out.
"Are you sure those are the parts for a desk?" he asked. "It looks more like a, like a dragon or something."
“A dragon?” Denise narrowed her eyes at him, but he wasn't wrong.
"Trogdor the deskinator," she said. He started making a ridiculous noise, and she burst out laughing.
"Is that a dragon noise?" she asked. "You sound like a dying manatee."
SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED/BACHELORETTE
How Much Was Mine To Keep - I'm familiar with 25% of the canon involved here [I WATCH A LOT OF HALF-MOVIES, OKAY???] but I at least knew enough to know all the actors involved, which was ENOUGH FOR ME.
"Come on!" Clyde says, throwing up his arms, almost spanning the width of the alley behind the Radio Shack where he worked in high school. "We look exactly alike!"
"Um, yeah," teenage Clyde says. "Maybe if I were, like, forty."
Anyway here's most what I've got so far [DEAR AUTHORS I HAVEN'T LEFT COMMENTS ON MOST OF THESE YET BECAUSE I'M A HUMAN DISASTER BUT I'M GOING TO!!!!!!!!!!], I'll do the other half ten years from now when I'm done:
MARVEL
The Adventures of Jackpot and Zombie Girl - After Peter Parker dies, Mary Jane Watson and Gwen Stacy decide to go out and fight crime.
“We’re superheroes!” Gwen whoops, throwing their joined hands up in the air.
“We took out a guy with a water pistol!” Mary Jane corrects through her laughter. “We have no powers!”
Five Must-Dos for When Your Best Friend id a Superhero - Ganke and Miles BFF fic, YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS.
Miles is the coolest kid he knows, and sometimes when he thinks he can't figure out why Miles isn't over the moon about his new powers, he remembers that day in the alley, Miles half invisible and looking terrified out of his mind, crying and saying no no no. He always remembers understanding then, even if he doesn't understand now.
That One Special Person You Want to Annoy for the Rest of Your Life - Beyond what I've read in this year's Yuletide fics IDK who Kate Bishop is but she's ALSO Hawkeye and she and Clint Barton are undercover on a cruise ship posing as newlyweds AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT MORE YOU WANT ME TO SAY TO SELL YOU ON THAT CONCEPT.
"That's a terrible thing to say to your fake husband."
"I think it's a great thing to say to my fake husband. A good, healthy sign for the amount of honesty that's going to be in our fake marriage," Kate says.
DCU
The Story So Far (10 Years Later) - I CAN'T EVEN WITH THIS!!!!!!!!!!!! It's a very sweet look at the future post-Batgirl, and it combines three of my favorite things: Steph as Nightwing, Steph/Dick, and Steph's illustrated guide to Batfamily history.
“But eventually when Dick got to keep being Batman, Damian didn’t want to be a sidekick anymore. So he got a new costume and started calling himself Xu'ffasch.”
“That is a really weird word,” said Sarah.
“Yeah, it means bat in Arabic. I think Damian likes that no one can spell it.”
Family Ties - ALFRED TAKING CARE OF DICK WHEN HE GETS HURT OR SICK OR DRUGGED! MURDER ME!
“It’s okay, Alfred,” Dick said far too cheerfully for someone caught in a fireman’s carry by the Batman. He gave him a jaunty wave; Alfred was unsurprised to find his hand covered in blood. “This is not my first rodeo!” He paused, then said, “Which is funny because I’m pretty sure this has also happened to me at a rodeo.”
ZOMBIELAND
ZOMBIELAND FIC IS BASICALLY ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS ABOUT YULETIDE EVERY YEAR. GOD BLESS ZOMBIELAND FIC.
Field Greens - Ugh the worst thing about surviving the zombie apocalypse would be having to grow your own food FOREVER, which is why I'm glad I totally won't survive it.
Columbus looked down at the plate and then back up at Tallahassee. "What was going to get anything on them? They're plants!"
Wichita grimaced. "So, maybe that's deer urine vinaigrette?"
Chocolate Chip Pancakes at the End of the World - UMMMMMMMMMMMM WICHITA AND TALLAHASSEE AND PANCAKES AND STUBBORN/RELUCTANT DISCUSSION OF FEELINGS?
"I didn't take you for the type who did nice things for people who weren't family."
"I don't."
THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: OCARINA OF TIME/MAJORA'S MASK
The Last Night - Three looks at Anju[/Kafei] on the third night! I'VE BEEN OBSESSED WITH ANJU/KAFEI SINCE I WAS TWELVE SO THIS IS GR8.
“Not to sound ungracious,” Kafei said, “but that moon either needs to fall or not.”
Somewhere Not Alone - Zelda and Skull Kid, post-Ocarina of Time.
Once, she sees a boy at the tree line, standing and watching. Two shimmering fairy orbs hover about, dancing to the woodwind song he plays.
Her heart leaps, then stumbles, falls; she does not hear her old ocarina, but pan flutes; the boy is too small, ungrown, shaded and dark in his forest-wrought clothes. He can not be her Link.
RPF
Another Dime in the Jukebox - Jason Sudeikis/Kristen Wiig with pining and casual sex!
He shakes his head at her, still trying to suppress his smile -- he’s such a masochist, he doesn’t even know why he’s smiling. It’s just that it’s nice to see her, have her next to him at four on a Sunday morning again, moving lights from the dance floor dimly sliding over her hair. It’s blonder again -- he wonders if she and Fabrizio are even still together. “Stop pretending you haven’t already asked somebody if she’s here,” Jason says. “You’re the worst liar.”
I'm an Optimist (You're a Clean Slate, Baby) - RENNER/JOHANNSON BESTIES WITH BENEFITS BUT ALSO FEELINGS OVER THE COURSE OF A DECADE????
"So, Jeremy, how hard was it not to hurt Scarlett at all?"
"We hurt each other," he clarifies, in response to the (inherently sexist) question. Scarlett shoots him a skeptical look.
"Did I?" she asks. "Did I really hurt you?"
"Yeah, you broke my heart."
"Awwww."
MULAN - TWISTED PRINCESSES
there will be killing ('til the score is paid - If the war's over, her father won't have to fight.
Mulan leaves the arrows that have struck her where they are. They don't hurt, and she almost likes the way they look.
Or maybe it's the spirit who does.
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
Our Last Days as Children - THIS IS JULIE/RIGGINS AND I WISH IT WERE LIKE A BILLION WORDS LONG, but it's gorgeous as-is.
Julie walks into Tim’s shop, asking how much an oil change is.
Tim looks up, grease spread across his knuckles and under his chin, and says, “For everyone else or for you?
A WRINKLE IN TIME
Wordless - Calvin vignettes!
She bears him up as she bears the fara up, giving of herself just by being there. And now he knows it: part of what he senses from her is that he loves her, and from this love grows all the love he'll need to survive this.
THE ADVENTURES OF PETE AND PETE
take my name - Pete and Pete and the end of the world.
He dreams about Ellen and Teddy, dreams about playing trombone and laying out on the front yard while his parents read books in their lawn chairs. He dreams about his little brother staging war on the adults with his own personal superhero. No, Pete doesn’t really think about his dreams.
WHIP IT
You Are My Fifth Avenue - True story, I only ever saw half of Whip It, BUT THIS IS GOOD ALL THE SAME.
“Your earrings are really cool,” Bliss said to her. “Did you make them yourself?”
Pash had.
MATILDA
Hopes and Fears and Fidgets - If I had my way there would be Matilda fic every year. It never occurred to me until I hit the section in this about Lavender and fireworks but I would KILL for a long Lavender and Matilda friendship fic, the tone the author hit for them was just so appealing to me!
"That's probably right," Dr Pritchard replies. "You're a very bright young lady. Have you ever considered becoming a doctor?"
"A little," she says. "But I think I'd want to be a nurse instead. They're the ones who really know what's going on."
BEN AND KATE
A Very Fox-y Christmas - I can see an episode going exactly like this.
“...I’m not saying there isn’t blood all over your couch. But maybe, if you decided not to look under the sheet, everyone would be a lot happier.”
THE WEST WING/PARKS AND REC
An Unexpected Visitor - Sam Seaborn accidentally ends up in Pawnee; Andy thinks Chris has been replaced with a pod person.
"What if I do have questions about my sex life?" Andy asked.
"Then you can call Ron."
"Ew, no," said April.
"You can call me," Donna said, and nodded at April. "Don't worry girl, I got your back."
THE SCORPIO RACES
Not Alexander, Nor Bucephalus - SCREAMING OVER THIS ABSOLUTELY PERFECT POST-BOOK FIC.
Sean, especially. He falls asleep at night with his hand over her belly, fingers spread wide, palm solid against the heat of her. They've never bothered to marry, much to the dismay of Father Mooneyham and the women in town. It's never been the sort of thing that bothers them. And Puck likes it, a bit--likes knowing that the eyes on her when she walks through town are watching her because she makes her own decisions, and tosses their judgement back in their faces. She did it when she rode in the Races, and she's doing it now, and they can all take a walk down to the water's edge if they don't like it.
CAN'T HARDLY WAIT
In the Middle of the Ride - A great look at Denise and Kenny after college and how it feels to figure yourself out.
"Are you sure those are the parts for a desk?" he asked. "It looks more like a, like a dragon or something."
“A dragon?” Denise narrowed her eyes at him, but he wasn't wrong.
"Trogdor the deskinator," she said. He started making a ridiculous noise, and she burst out laughing.
"Is that a dragon noise?" she asked. "You sound like a dying manatee."
SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED/BACHELORETTE
How Much Was Mine To Keep - I'm familiar with 25% of the canon involved here [I WATCH A LOT OF HALF-MOVIES, OKAY???] but I at least knew enough to know all the actors involved, which was ENOUGH FOR ME.
"Come on!" Clyde says, throwing up his arms, almost spanning the width of the alley behind the Radio Shack where he worked in high school. "We look exactly alike!"
"Um, yeah," teenage Clyde says. "Maybe if I were, like, forty."