Pacific Rim fic recs
So, the weekend before last I saw Pacific Rim and it was amaaaaaaazing. I enjoyed it A LOT and have been swallowing all the fic I can since then, hurrah. On the whole, the fic for the film has been really good. I’ve only had one DNF, and even that was more because I couldn’t buy into the author’s headcanon than because it was a bad fic.
(fabulously, I last downloaded a bunch of fic two days ago, and I can already see some fics I haven’t read yet on Pinboard, so more fic, yay! Hopefully some of it will be Stacker/Herc because there is nowhere near enough of that around)
As a result of all this reading, here are some fic recs in no particular order:
Reconstruction Site by disco_vendetta
archiveofourown.org/works/893409
Lovely, long and detailed post-movie Mako/Raleigh fic
The hardest thing he does in five years is give Mako Mori back that fucking umbrella. He wants to keep it forever - sleep with it by his bed, always live in damp rainy places so he’ll have an excuse to use it - because it was something she’d touched.
Ao by zosofi
Sweet fic about Mako and her hair (Mako/Raleigh)
archiveofourown.org/works/892219
He had never asked why she chose blue-she never thought she needed to explain. It was just-it was. Blue was… it was her. It was everything; still is everything.
The Bear and the Maiden Fair by Archadian_Skies
Aleksis/Sasha fic where Aleksis can’t speak, but it doesn’t matter in the Drift
archiveofourown.org/works/884366
'Hello.'
Sasha jumped, startled and shocked, before looking across at him.
'I am sorry I could not greet you respectfully when we first met.'
It was grassy and wanted wear by achillees
Very good angsty Groundhog Day fic, Chuck/Raleigh but I liked it more for the Chuck and Herc moments
archiveofourown.org/works/899617
Raleigh blinks. “We haven’t detonated the bomb yet. Were you - did you dream about it?” His face is so sympathetic. It makes Chuck sick.
“It wasn’t a dream, it was real,” he protests.
Raleigh and Herc share another look, less of blank confusion and more of - of bloody sympathy.
no porch light on to pull me home by Encroix
Long, thoughtful post-movie fic with Raleigh and Mako trying to find their places in the new world (Mako/Raleigh)
archiveofourown.org/works/900000
(The word, he's afraid to say. You say things like that and all of a sudden you have something to be taken away.
He knows. He remembers.)
slow dumb show by encroix
Hot Raleigh/Mako fic
archiveofourown.org/works/898582
Once you got hooked into the Jaeger, once you started to do trial runs to try and figure out your fighting compatibility, to test your neural handshake, you either ended up fighting in three runs, or fucking. Depending on how connected you were, how attracted you found each other. And after three, either the relationship stood on its own or it fell apart. Three and free. Raleigh's as familiar with the concept as you can be without having actually gone through it yourself.
male posturing by achillees
Hot Raleigh/Chuck PWP
archiveofourown.org/works/889785
Raleigh struggles to rein in his temper. He’s not the hotheaded, cocky idiot he used to be. He isn’t controlled by his anger.
It’s not worth it.
Chuck sneers, shakes his head. “Useless.”
It’s not worth -
Aw, fuck it.
What is Built Endures by thrace
Mako and Stacker gen. I really liked this fic.
archiveofourown.org/works/886123
She had thought, when she was still a child and all she needed was Stacker’s steadying hand on her arm to make her feel safe, that some day she would be as big and strong as him. When she turned thirteen and was barely eye level with Stacker’s chest she accepted the truth and tailored her training to suit-speed, agility, and finesse were her friends, not brute strength. And besides a jaeger would be all the strength she needed.
all we know of heaven; all we need of hell by Beardsley
Mako-centric gen, going from pre- to post-movie.
archiveofourown.org/works/896824
What is it that keeps her going?
She kills every last one of the kaiju with her soul shared between two bodies. It doesn't matter that she passes out before Raleigh can set the charges, because in that moment she and Raleigh are the same person. She fulfils her promise to Tamsin and to her family, to Stacker, to all the families she's ever had - Herc and his aggravating son, Cheung who was too shy to talk to her and Jin and Hu who taught her to play basketball, Sasha and Alexi who sent her awful techno mp3s.
Girls Night by snack_size
Cute fic about Sasha and Mako being friends (there should be more of this sort of thing)
archiveofourown.org/works/898590
Sasha turned her so that she could see herself in the mirror. Mako tilted her head, marveling at how perfect the haircut was - literally perfect, since it was angled and precise on both sides.
“Get mirror so she can see,” Sasha said, and Aleksis quickly handed Sasha a hand held mirror and turned her so she could inspect the back of the cut, which had been buzzed at the bottom while the top was a perfect straight line from where the angle stopped.
“Oh, my,” Mako said. She looked good - she looked tough. Not just some secretary with a bob haircut. She looked like a warrior. Like a Jaeger pilot. “I love it.”
Integrity by themocaw
Gen fic, tagged outside perspective for a reason, loved this
archiveofourown.org/works/889355
(quote kept back because it would spoil the fic, I think)
riding the wave by achillees
Slight AU, Raleigh/Chuck, and I really liked the character development
archiveofourown.org/works/887860
As it turns out, all you have to do to get respect from Chuck (not that he’d like, admit it, but still) is nearly kill yourself mutilating the two biggest Kaiju Raleigh has ever seen.
It’s really Mako who deserves the credit, because that stunt with the sword was nothing less than remarkable, but when Raleigh looks through the crowd of people and sees that look in Chuck’s eyes, like he’s actually seeing Raleigh for the first time, well…
He’s not about to say anything to take that away, is all.
All of Your Flaws and All of My Flaws by CinnamonCake
Really interesting, Geizler-centric fic (eventual Geizler/Gottlieb but it’s very low-key)
archiveofourown.org/works/898093
They sit in silence for a while, just the scratching of pencil on paper and the sloshing of alcohol in an almost empty bottle breaking the quiet. Newton chews on the inside of his cheek and breathes through the dizziness and says, "You know they're never gonna stop coming, right?" and even though he can't see clearly, he looks up at the blackboards behind Hermann's back that are scribbled all over with numbers and formulas and a language that Newton can only dream of speaking. The pencil in Hermann's hand stops moving. Newton didn't think quiet could ever be this loud.
"Yes, I know," Hermann says after what feels like hours. Newton could swear he can hear the fear in his voice.
all the best ones are troubled by kuro49
Exploration of Chuck and Herc’s relationship (and how odd it must be to drift with your parent)
archiveofourown.org/works/889847
"Come on, don't tell me you never wanted to punch your old man in the face."
The small dry laugh Herc Hansen bites out makes Chuck steady his stance. And then he is throwing out his first punch. There is no grace in the line of his arm when he swings, just brutal strength. And instead of dodging, his father catches his fist in his opened palm, halting the attack in its track. The contact is brief but it is enough for Herc to take his own swing, his fist stopping only millimetres in front of Chuck's face.
"1-0." His father's voice is deliberately calm.
Shrugging it off with a bitten back huff, Chuck takes his initial stance, centring his entire body once again. He only narrows his eyes when his father takes a single step forward.
Glass and Steel by jayeinacross
Short Herc and Chuck gen
archiveofourown.org/works/891017
He introduces Chuck to Max the day before Chuck enters the Academy, and when he sees his son's smile, he feels like it's the first thing he's done right in a long time. It's been a long time since he's seen an expression like that on Chuck's face, and he blames himself for that.
Brand New Empire by pyrodynamo
Long fic about Mako, Raleigh and Herc getting involved in rebuilding. Great worldbuilding.
archiveofourown.org/works/889991
“I’m thinking about it,” Herc leaned back a little more in his chair. “It’d do a lot of good, I think, and especially since-”
Herc stopped. Some days Raleigh felt like he was looking in a mirror again, when grief sat in his gut like a solid thing, when it roosted under his ribs and clawed through his throat when he tried to breathe. He saw it in Mako’s eyes in odd hours, woke up to the sound of her stuttered gasps and remembered.
“You don’t have to talk about it,” Raleigh said.
Herc breathed out hard, and shook his head. “This is exactly what I mean. It’s good to keep busy now, and- if I’m in the rebuilding I want to get up to my elbows in it. I wanna see some good.”
give me your all by grim_lupine
Mako/Raleight first time fic
archiveofourown.org/works/897263
It’s a thrill and an honor, and Mako finds that the more Raleigh offers up to her, the more she wants; she wants all of him, wants to dive into his mind a thousand times more until she’s lived his life alongside him, until she knows Raleigh Becket to the very tips of his fingers and the far-flung corners of his mind.
Dancing with the Beast by stazybo
Really good Aleksis/Sasha backstory
archiveofourown.org/works/896468
Katya has been dead for eight months, and Sasha is fine.
Marshall Orlova is by no means comfortable with putting Sasha back in the cockpit so soon, but Cherno Alpha is empty, and they cannot afford that, and there is no one on the base that can see that lumbering titan running again without a Kaidanovskaya sister in her chest. They begin compiling a list of candidates for drift compatibility.
I stand so close, but you’re miles away by ryoflame
Chuck-centric, a slightly different explanation for why he’s got such a problem with Raleigh. Loved this.
archiveofourown.org/works/892393
Chuck immediately decides he dislikes him and comes to this conclusion for several reasons; everyone seems to consider him some kind of golden boy, despite the fact that Raleigh hasn't piloted a Jaeger in over half a decade. Raleigh is also older than him by about that much and this makes Chuck instantly defensive; he'll be damned if he's going to treat this newcomer like some sort of respected veteran.
Worst of all though, is the way Mako looks at him. Bright-eyed, expectant. Hopeful.
If We Had More Time by kyrdwyn
Short gen piece about Stacker and Mako
archiveofourown.org/works/892066
He'd taken her in, raised her as his own. His superiors at the PPDC had reprimanded him for it, questionable judgment they’d called it, but Stacker had never regretted it. He'd let her join the Jaeger program, let her restore Gipsy Danger when she'd asked, when they'd needed a fourth Jaeger for the op. She was determined to pilot Gispy Danger, determined to avenge her family. Stacker understood, but knew that her memories of the day they died, her need for vengeance could cause trouble in the Drift.
if you have a shot (you take it) by mccoy
Short, sad gen about Herc and Chuck
archiveofourown.org/works/890323
But nothing (literally nothing) had prepared him for trying to raise a bratty ten year old during a fucking alien apocalypse.
I’ll Follow You Down While We’re Passing Through Space by madness_and_smiles
Hot Dads longfic, really good
archiveofourown.org/works/897459
It feels like electricity. It feels like making love. It feels like a conversation at three in the morning with your best friend. It’s a connection the likes of which Herc hasn’t felt in years.
“Whether you like it or not,” Herc gasps out as he pulls Stacker up off of the map, “I’m the best co-pilot out there for you right now. Stacker. Please.”
In the Blood and Smoke by mightequinn
Kaidonovskys fic, short but v good
archiveofourown.org/works/885587
She's silent for a moment, walking around the fighter and examining it. "Cherno Alpha," she replies finally.
"Why Alpha?"
"From Alpha to Omega," she answers, grey eyes looking through him. "Until the end."
Let’s Conspire to Reignite by ACeramicGirl
Kaidonovskys backstory
archiveofourown.org/works/890801
Sasha hated Aleksis the moment she met him. He was too calm, too serious. He had no passions, no feeling. As far as she could tell; didn’t care about battling the Kaiju at all.
His silence bothered her as well, but she couldn’t begrudge him that.
They Might Be Giants by PunkHazard
First things first: excellent title, well done this author. Otherwise, a really enjoyable genfic about the Kaidonovskys and the Wei triplets and learning to work together.
archiveofourown.org/works/900232
"So you like Russia," Sasha says with the kind of turn to her lips that Cheung knows means she's making fun of them. No one's allowed to make fun of them in Shanghai. That usually gets faces beaten in.
Still.
He can't feel his fingers.
"Russia is a beautiful country," Hu intones politely, looking exactly like both his brothers but somehow able to maintain an even inflection, "but I don't think she likes us as much as we would like to know her."
And the White, White Drift by x_art
Post-movie fix-it Hot Dads fic, long, amazing
archiveofourown.org/works/891886
He hadn’t been to London since the attack on Manila. Then, the city had been on high alert, preparing for attack from all sides. Now, it was as he remembered from his childhood: people everywhere, streets crowded with cars and bicycles. The only difference, he realized as he climbed from the cab, was that the people were smiling, even at each other.
I must find the time to comment on these fics (hahahaha, time, yeah, whatever Han) but hope this is useful :) May well be back with another post once I've caught up on the next batch of fic. Does anyone want meta recs? Those seem to have been fairly comprehensively covered but let me know if you want some links.
This entry was originally posted at http://hestia8.dreamwidth.org/51932.html.
(fabulously, I last downloaded a bunch of fic two days ago, and I can already see some fics I haven’t read yet on Pinboard, so more fic, yay! Hopefully some of it will be Stacker/Herc because there is nowhere near enough of that around)
As a result of all this reading, here are some fic recs in no particular order:
Reconstruction Site by disco_vendetta
archiveofourown.org/works/893409
Lovely, long and detailed post-movie Mako/Raleigh fic
The hardest thing he does in five years is give Mako Mori back that fucking umbrella. He wants to keep it forever - sleep with it by his bed, always live in damp rainy places so he’ll have an excuse to use it - because it was something she’d touched.
Ao by zosofi
Sweet fic about Mako and her hair (Mako/Raleigh)
archiveofourown.org/works/892219
He had never asked why she chose blue-she never thought she needed to explain. It was just-it was. Blue was… it was her. It was everything; still is everything.
The Bear and the Maiden Fair by Archadian_Skies
Aleksis/Sasha fic where Aleksis can’t speak, but it doesn’t matter in the Drift
archiveofourown.org/works/884366
'Hello.'
Sasha jumped, startled and shocked, before looking across at him.
'I am sorry I could not greet you respectfully when we first met.'
It was grassy and wanted wear by achillees
Very good angsty Groundhog Day fic, Chuck/Raleigh but I liked it more for the Chuck and Herc moments
archiveofourown.org/works/899617
Raleigh blinks. “We haven’t detonated the bomb yet. Were you - did you dream about it?” His face is so sympathetic. It makes Chuck sick.
“It wasn’t a dream, it was real,” he protests.
Raleigh and Herc share another look, less of blank confusion and more of - of bloody sympathy.
no porch light on to pull me home by Encroix
Long, thoughtful post-movie fic with Raleigh and Mako trying to find their places in the new world (Mako/Raleigh)
archiveofourown.org/works/900000
(The word, he's afraid to say. You say things like that and all of a sudden you have something to be taken away.
He knows. He remembers.)
slow dumb show by encroix
Hot Raleigh/Mako fic
archiveofourown.org/works/898582
Once you got hooked into the Jaeger, once you started to do trial runs to try and figure out your fighting compatibility, to test your neural handshake, you either ended up fighting in three runs, or fucking. Depending on how connected you were, how attracted you found each other. And after three, either the relationship stood on its own or it fell apart. Three and free. Raleigh's as familiar with the concept as you can be without having actually gone through it yourself.
male posturing by achillees
Hot Raleigh/Chuck PWP
archiveofourown.org/works/889785
Raleigh struggles to rein in his temper. He’s not the hotheaded, cocky idiot he used to be. He isn’t controlled by his anger.
It’s not worth it.
Chuck sneers, shakes his head. “Useless.”
It’s not worth -
Aw, fuck it.
What is Built Endures by thrace
Mako and Stacker gen. I really liked this fic.
archiveofourown.org/works/886123
She had thought, when she was still a child and all she needed was Stacker’s steadying hand on her arm to make her feel safe, that some day she would be as big and strong as him. When she turned thirteen and was barely eye level with Stacker’s chest she accepted the truth and tailored her training to suit-speed, agility, and finesse were her friends, not brute strength. And besides a jaeger would be all the strength she needed.
all we know of heaven; all we need of hell by Beardsley
Mako-centric gen, going from pre- to post-movie.
archiveofourown.org/works/896824
What is it that keeps her going?
She kills every last one of the kaiju with her soul shared between two bodies. It doesn't matter that she passes out before Raleigh can set the charges, because in that moment she and Raleigh are the same person. She fulfils her promise to Tamsin and to her family, to Stacker, to all the families she's ever had - Herc and his aggravating son, Cheung who was too shy to talk to her and Jin and Hu who taught her to play basketball, Sasha and Alexi who sent her awful techno mp3s.
Girls Night by snack_size
Cute fic about Sasha and Mako being friends (there should be more of this sort of thing)
archiveofourown.org/works/898590
Sasha turned her so that she could see herself in the mirror. Mako tilted her head, marveling at how perfect the haircut was - literally perfect, since it was angled and precise on both sides.
“Get mirror so she can see,” Sasha said, and Aleksis quickly handed Sasha a hand held mirror and turned her so she could inspect the back of the cut, which had been buzzed at the bottom while the top was a perfect straight line from where the angle stopped.
“Oh, my,” Mako said. She looked good - she looked tough. Not just some secretary with a bob haircut. She looked like a warrior. Like a Jaeger pilot. “I love it.”
Integrity by themocaw
Gen fic, tagged outside perspective for a reason, loved this
archiveofourown.org/works/889355
(quote kept back because it would spoil the fic, I think)
riding the wave by achillees
Slight AU, Raleigh/Chuck, and I really liked the character development
archiveofourown.org/works/887860
As it turns out, all you have to do to get respect from Chuck (not that he’d like, admit it, but still) is nearly kill yourself mutilating the two biggest Kaiju Raleigh has ever seen.
It’s really Mako who deserves the credit, because that stunt with the sword was nothing less than remarkable, but when Raleigh looks through the crowd of people and sees that look in Chuck’s eyes, like he’s actually seeing Raleigh for the first time, well…
He’s not about to say anything to take that away, is all.
All of Your Flaws and All of My Flaws by CinnamonCake
Really interesting, Geizler-centric fic (eventual Geizler/Gottlieb but it’s very low-key)
archiveofourown.org/works/898093
They sit in silence for a while, just the scratching of pencil on paper and the sloshing of alcohol in an almost empty bottle breaking the quiet. Newton chews on the inside of his cheek and breathes through the dizziness and says, "You know they're never gonna stop coming, right?" and even though he can't see clearly, he looks up at the blackboards behind Hermann's back that are scribbled all over with numbers and formulas and a language that Newton can only dream of speaking. The pencil in Hermann's hand stops moving. Newton didn't think quiet could ever be this loud.
"Yes, I know," Hermann says after what feels like hours. Newton could swear he can hear the fear in his voice.
all the best ones are troubled by kuro49
Exploration of Chuck and Herc’s relationship (and how odd it must be to drift with your parent)
archiveofourown.org/works/889847
"Come on, don't tell me you never wanted to punch your old man in the face."
The small dry laugh Herc Hansen bites out makes Chuck steady his stance. And then he is throwing out his first punch. There is no grace in the line of his arm when he swings, just brutal strength. And instead of dodging, his father catches his fist in his opened palm, halting the attack in its track. The contact is brief but it is enough for Herc to take his own swing, his fist stopping only millimetres in front of Chuck's face.
"1-0." His father's voice is deliberately calm.
Shrugging it off with a bitten back huff, Chuck takes his initial stance, centring his entire body once again. He only narrows his eyes when his father takes a single step forward.
Glass and Steel by jayeinacross
Short Herc and Chuck gen
archiveofourown.org/works/891017
He introduces Chuck to Max the day before Chuck enters the Academy, and when he sees his son's smile, he feels like it's the first thing he's done right in a long time. It's been a long time since he's seen an expression like that on Chuck's face, and he blames himself for that.
Brand New Empire by pyrodynamo
Long fic about Mako, Raleigh and Herc getting involved in rebuilding. Great worldbuilding.
archiveofourown.org/works/889991
“I’m thinking about it,” Herc leaned back a little more in his chair. “It’d do a lot of good, I think, and especially since-”
Herc stopped. Some days Raleigh felt like he was looking in a mirror again, when grief sat in his gut like a solid thing, when it roosted under his ribs and clawed through his throat when he tried to breathe. He saw it in Mako’s eyes in odd hours, woke up to the sound of her stuttered gasps and remembered.
“You don’t have to talk about it,” Raleigh said.
Herc breathed out hard, and shook his head. “This is exactly what I mean. It’s good to keep busy now, and- if I’m in the rebuilding I want to get up to my elbows in it. I wanna see some good.”
give me your all by grim_lupine
Mako/Raleight first time fic
archiveofourown.org/works/897263
It’s a thrill and an honor, and Mako finds that the more Raleigh offers up to her, the more she wants; she wants all of him, wants to dive into his mind a thousand times more until she’s lived his life alongside him, until she knows Raleigh Becket to the very tips of his fingers and the far-flung corners of his mind.
Dancing with the Beast by stazybo
Really good Aleksis/Sasha backstory
archiveofourown.org/works/896468
Katya has been dead for eight months, and Sasha is fine.
Marshall Orlova is by no means comfortable with putting Sasha back in the cockpit so soon, but Cherno Alpha is empty, and they cannot afford that, and there is no one on the base that can see that lumbering titan running again without a Kaidanovskaya sister in her chest. They begin compiling a list of candidates for drift compatibility.
I stand so close, but you’re miles away by ryoflame
Chuck-centric, a slightly different explanation for why he’s got such a problem with Raleigh. Loved this.
archiveofourown.org/works/892393
Chuck immediately decides he dislikes him and comes to this conclusion for several reasons; everyone seems to consider him some kind of golden boy, despite the fact that Raleigh hasn't piloted a Jaeger in over half a decade. Raleigh is also older than him by about that much and this makes Chuck instantly defensive; he'll be damned if he's going to treat this newcomer like some sort of respected veteran.
Worst of all though, is the way Mako looks at him. Bright-eyed, expectant. Hopeful.
If We Had More Time by kyrdwyn
Short gen piece about Stacker and Mako
archiveofourown.org/works/892066
He'd taken her in, raised her as his own. His superiors at the PPDC had reprimanded him for it, questionable judgment they’d called it, but Stacker had never regretted it. He'd let her join the Jaeger program, let her restore Gipsy Danger when she'd asked, when they'd needed a fourth Jaeger for the op. She was determined to pilot Gispy Danger, determined to avenge her family. Stacker understood, but knew that her memories of the day they died, her need for vengeance could cause trouble in the Drift.
if you have a shot (you take it) by mccoy
Short, sad gen about Herc and Chuck
archiveofourown.org/works/890323
But nothing (literally nothing) had prepared him for trying to raise a bratty ten year old during a fucking alien apocalypse.
I’ll Follow You Down While We’re Passing Through Space by madness_and_smiles
Hot Dads longfic, really good
archiveofourown.org/works/897459
It feels like electricity. It feels like making love. It feels like a conversation at three in the morning with your best friend. It’s a connection the likes of which Herc hasn’t felt in years.
“Whether you like it or not,” Herc gasps out as he pulls Stacker up off of the map, “I’m the best co-pilot out there for you right now. Stacker. Please.”
In the Blood and Smoke by mightequinn
Kaidonovskys fic, short but v good
archiveofourown.org/works/885587
She's silent for a moment, walking around the fighter and examining it. "Cherno Alpha," she replies finally.
"Why Alpha?"
"From Alpha to Omega," she answers, grey eyes looking through him. "Until the end."
Let’s Conspire to Reignite by ACeramicGirl
Kaidonovskys backstory
archiveofourown.org/works/890801
Sasha hated Aleksis the moment she met him. He was too calm, too serious. He had no passions, no feeling. As far as she could tell; didn’t care about battling the Kaiju at all.
His silence bothered her as well, but she couldn’t begrudge him that.
They Might Be Giants by PunkHazard
First things first: excellent title, well done this author. Otherwise, a really enjoyable genfic about the Kaidonovskys and the Wei triplets and learning to work together.
archiveofourown.org/works/900232
"So you like Russia," Sasha says with the kind of turn to her lips that Cheung knows means she's making fun of them. No one's allowed to make fun of them in Shanghai. That usually gets faces beaten in.
Still.
He can't feel his fingers.
"Russia is a beautiful country," Hu intones politely, looking exactly like both his brothers but somehow able to maintain an even inflection, "but I don't think she likes us as much as we would like to know her."
And the White, White Drift by x_art
Post-movie fix-it Hot Dads fic, long, amazing
archiveofourown.org/works/891886
He hadn’t been to London since the attack on Manila. Then, the city had been on high alert, preparing for attack from all sides. Now, it was as he remembered from his childhood: people everywhere, streets crowded with cars and bicycles. The only difference, he realized as he climbed from the cab, was that the people were smiling, even at each other.
I must find the time to comment on these fics (hahahaha, time, yeah, whatever Han) but hope this is useful :) May well be back with another post once I've caught up on the next batch of fic. Does anyone want meta recs? Those seem to have been fairly comprehensively covered but let me know if you want some links.
This entry was originally posted at http://hestia8.dreamwidth.org/51932.html.