Yuletide recs - 8 fic from 8 fandoms
I've only flitted around the AO3 this Yuletide, mostly skimming through the Misses Claus collection and other stories featuring woman. Here are a few gems in Aliens, Babylon 5, Dexter, Dragonriders of Pern, Justified, Kushiel's Dart, Sons of Anarchy, and The Wire.
Waiting for the Conquered (1085 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Aliens (1986)
Rating: General Audiences
Warning: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Alien Queen (Aliens)
Summary:
The queen's view of events.
Read this because: This story makes the alien race from Aliens a true threat. It made me shiver.
The Price of a Favor (1922 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Babylon 5
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Timov
Summary:
All Timov wants to do is live quietly. With Cartagia on the throne, that may not be an option.
Read this because: This one's been recc'd several times, and it deserves it. Timov kicks ass, and the insights into what it means to be a noblewoman in Centauri society hit home.
Vigil (1282 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Dexter (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warning: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Debra Morgan/Dexter Morgan
Characters: Dexter Morgan, Debra Morgan
Summary:
Deb keeps watch over her brother. It's for his own good. And hers.
Read this because: Deb's been put through the ringer this season, and this author perfectly captures her voice and perspective.
Unthinkable (4898 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Dragonriders of Pern - Anne McCaffrey
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warning: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Original Characters
Summary:
Being left Standing - it gets easier, and it doesn't.
Read this because: Brilliant narration by an original character that gives you a peek at the society of dragonriders from the other side. The implication that every single canonical narrator is unreliable is intriguing and makes me want to start writing in this fandom to explore the implications.
halcyon (2528 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Justified
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Rachel Brooks
Summary:
Rachel tracks a missing witness into Noble's Hollow. The trick is getting her back out again.
Read this because: The women of Justified can easily be over-shadowed by the men, and this story puts them back on the map. The descriptions were sparse and evocative, and crashed me right into the ever-competent Rachel's head.
Being some kind of reminiscence, written by the proprietress under some duress inflicted by a poet, of the life of the founder of Atelier Favrielle of the City of Elua, Terre D'Ange, upon the twentieth anniversary of its founding. (3517 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Kushiel's Legacy - Jacqueline Carey
Rating: Mature
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Favrielle no Eglantine, Phedre no Delaunay
Summary:
Those educated to the point that such distinctions matter may wonder what precisely this document is. A history? Biography? Manifesto? Mere accounting of debts? It matters not.
Read this because: The story is subtle and clever with a touch of bitterness, like Favrielle herself.
just a' leanin on my shovel (in this graveyard of dreams) (2863 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Sons of Anarchy
Rating: Mature
Warning: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Jax Teller/Opie Winston
Characters: Jax Teller, Opie Winston
Summary:
Jax and Opie, through the years.
Read this because: This story was one of the gifts written for me. And I meant to keep it for a separate recs post, I really did. But I found I was unable to write a recs post without mentioning this story. Because it is so true to Jax, and Opie, and the relationship we see between them in canon, that it has permanently enriched and redefined how I see them.
Dice for Decimals (4385 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Wire
Rating: Mature
Warning: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Stringer Bell/Jimmy McNulty
Characters: Kima Greggs, Cedric Daniels, Rhonda Pearlman, William "Bunk" Moreland, Lester Freamon, Thomas "Herc" Hauk, Stringer Bell, Jimmy McNulty
Summary:
Dr. Russell Bell is a week unshaven, with gold-rimmed glasses and leather-reinforced elbows on his court coat. He's professorial in a broad-shouldered Indiana Jones kind of way; if it weren't for the metal detectors at the entrance to the courthouse, McNulty would swear blind he was packing.
Read this because: Russell Bell's dissertation was, The Microeconomics of the Unregulated Heroin Trade: A Case Study of Three Criminal Organizations in Urban Philadelphia and McNulty is just as clever, observant, and fucked up as in the show.
Waiting for the Conquered (1085 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Aliens (1986)
Rating: General Audiences
Warning: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Alien Queen (Aliens)
Summary:
The queen's view of events.
Read this because: This story makes the alien race from Aliens a true threat. It made me shiver.
The Price of a Favor (1922 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Babylon 5
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Timov
Summary:
All Timov wants to do is live quietly. With Cartagia on the throne, that may not be an option.
Read this because: This one's been recc'd several times, and it deserves it. Timov kicks ass, and the insights into what it means to be a noblewoman in Centauri society hit home.
Vigil (1282 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Dexter (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warning: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Debra Morgan/Dexter Morgan
Characters: Dexter Morgan, Debra Morgan
Summary:
Deb keeps watch over her brother. It's for his own good. And hers.
Read this because: Deb's been put through the ringer this season, and this author perfectly captures her voice and perspective.
Unthinkable (4898 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Dragonriders of Pern - Anne McCaffrey
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warning: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Original Characters
Summary:
Being left Standing - it gets easier, and it doesn't.
Read this because: Brilliant narration by an original character that gives you a peek at the society of dragonriders from the other side. The implication that every single canonical narrator is unreliable is intriguing and makes me want to start writing in this fandom to explore the implications.
halcyon (2528 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Justified
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Rachel Brooks
Summary:
Rachel tracks a missing witness into Noble's Hollow. The trick is getting her back out again.
Read this because: The women of Justified can easily be over-shadowed by the men, and this story puts them back on the map. The descriptions were sparse and evocative, and crashed me right into the ever-competent Rachel's head.
Being some kind of reminiscence, written by the proprietress under some duress inflicted by a poet, of the life of the founder of Atelier Favrielle of the City of Elua, Terre D'Ange, upon the twentieth anniversary of its founding. (3517 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Kushiel's Legacy - Jacqueline Carey
Rating: Mature
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Favrielle no Eglantine, Phedre no Delaunay
Summary:
Those educated to the point that such distinctions matter may wonder what precisely this document is. A history? Biography? Manifesto? Mere accounting of debts? It matters not.
Read this because: The story is subtle and clever with a touch of bitterness, like Favrielle herself.
just a' leanin on my shovel (in this graveyard of dreams) (2863 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Sons of Anarchy
Rating: Mature
Warning: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Jax Teller/Opie Winston
Characters: Jax Teller, Opie Winston
Summary:
Jax and Opie, through the years.
Read this because: This story was one of the gifts written for me. And I meant to keep it for a separate recs post, I really did. But I found I was unable to write a recs post without mentioning this story. Because it is so true to Jax, and Opie, and the relationship we see between them in canon, that it has permanently enriched and redefined how I see them.
Dice for Decimals (4385 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Wire
Rating: Mature
Warning: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Stringer Bell/Jimmy McNulty
Characters: Kima Greggs, Cedric Daniels, Rhonda Pearlman, William "Bunk" Moreland, Lester Freamon, Thomas "Herc" Hauk, Stringer Bell, Jimmy McNulty
Summary:
Dr. Russell Bell is a week unshaven, with gold-rimmed glasses and leather-reinforced elbows on his court coat. He's professorial in a broad-shouldered Indiana Jones kind of way; if it weren't for the metal detectors at the entrance to the courthouse, McNulty would swear blind he was packing.
Read this because: Russell Bell's dissertation was, The Microeconomics of the Unregulated Heroin Trade: A Case Study of Three Criminal Organizations in Urban Philadelphia and McNulty is just as clever, observant, and fucked up as in the show.