Round 3 of Yuletide recs
I come bearing 11 recs in 11 fandoms.
TV - Almost Human, The Muppet Show, Orphan Black, Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles
Code of Conduct (6314 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Almost Human
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Dorian/Rudy Lom, Dorian/John Kennex, Dorian/DRN-494
Characters: Dorian (Almost Human), John Kennex, Valerie Stahl, Rudy Lom, DRN-494, Sandra Maldonado, Richard Paul
Additional Tags: Angst, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Consent Issues, Banter, lots of swearing, Free Will, Robot/Human Relationships
Summary:
“What? You tell me no all the time,” John objects immediately, turning to face Dorian fully with confusion plain in his expression. “You are downright difficult some days. Most days.”
Which is what you want, Dorian cannot bear to say to him. He knows the moment the thought occurs to John himself anyway. A door behind John's eyes that had started to crack open over the last few months of their partnership - a door neither of them had even acknowledged existed yet - slams shut with finality.
Bookmarker's Notes:
“I don't get it. Why would anyone do...” he waves a hand helplessly at the broken DRN. “That. What's the motivation?”
Dorian looks him steadily in the eye. “There's no need to worry about motivation where there hasn't been a crime, John,” he says evenly, blandly.
This fic highlights the consent issues inherent in this fandom beautifully, in a wonderfully in-character way.
there's not a word yet (for old friends who've just met) (12068 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Muppet Show
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Beaker/Dr. Bunsen Honeydew
Characters: Beaker (Muppets), Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, Kermit the Frog, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo the Great, Scooter (Muppets), Miss Piggy
Additional Tags: Ensemble Cast, Found Family, Canon Typical Violence, science abuse
Summary:
Beaker's sure there's some kind of heartwarming moral in all this, but all he wants to do is get through this safe, sane, and intact. The Muppets may have other plans.
Bookmarker's Notes:
A truly charming yuletide story, in which Beaker finds a home on the Muppet Show. In the words of Fozzie, "Even if none of us are very good at it, we have a lot of fun here." If you need something to cheer you up, this is just the ticket!
If I choose to fall, who's to say it isn't flight? (2581 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Orphan Black (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Siobhan "Mrs. S" Sadler/Amelia
Characters: Amelia (Orphan Black), Siobhan "Mrs. S" Sadler
Additional Tags: Misses Clause Challenge, Chromatic Yuletide
Summary:
Amelia moves to London to find herself.
Bookmarker's Notes:
An interesting glimpse into the lives of Amelia and Siobhan when they first met, many years ago. When someone you thought you knew, maybe even loved, turns out to be someone quite different, betrayal is inevitable.
Intuition and Ingenuity (6670 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Tarissa Dyson & Daniel Dyson
Characters: Daniel Dyson
Additional Tags: Canon Character of Color, POV Character of Color, Male Character of Color, Racism, Stalking
Summary:
Danny knew something was fishy when he got the letter.
Bookmarker's Notes:
Read this for the exquisitely paced build-up of tension. Danny has no idea why he's being targeted, but we do, and it makes this story all the better. Also a fantastic, matter-of-fact look at the normal anxiety and necessary caution for a black male in the US today.
Movies - The Great Mouse Detective, Men in Black
The Red-Furred League (3402 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Basil of Baker Street, David Dawson, Mrs. Judson (The Great Mouse Detective)
Additional Tags: Case Fic, convergent mouse society, i'm sorry i didn't manage to cross this over with the rescuers, references to mouse burlesque, it's not a direct lift
Summary:
A young red mouse comes to Basil of Baker Street with a most unique case.
Bookmarker's Notes:
The author has taken ACD's 'The Red-Headed League' and side-stepped it perfectly into the world of the Great Mouse Detective. Enjoy the scandalous young lady mouse who is their client, rodent banter, and a delightful case fic in the best tradition of Sherlock Holmes!
once you get the feeling it wants you back for more (3883 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Men in Black (Movies)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Agent Jay/Agent Kay
Characters: Agent Jay (Men in Black), Agent Kay (Men in Black)
Additional Tags: Dubious Consent, Memory Alteration, Unhealthy Relationships, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Possessive Behavior, Age Difference, Power Imbalance, Interracial Relationship, Mentor/Protégé, Time Skips, Unreliable Narrator, Requited Love, Outdoor Sex, Semi-Public Sex, Bittersweet Ending, Yuletide Treat, Yuleporn, Crueltide
Summary:
The last thing Jay ever remembers is the flash going off. Then he forgets that too.
Bookmarker's Notes:
Agent Jay wants a relationship with his partner, but Agent K keeps saying no. Or does he? The tags say unreliable narrators and unhealthy relationships, and they do not lie.
Books and Poetry - Church Going, Peter Pan
This Cross Of Ground (100 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Church Going - Philip Larkin
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Additional Tags: Yuletide Treat, Drabble, Far Future, Buildings
Summary:
What were they?
Bookmarker's Notes:
I had never read the poem that is the source here, but I want to recommend this as a superior example of the often maligned drabble. 100 words, polished to sharp-glinting perfection.
And All Things Nice (4444 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Peter Pan - J. M. Barrie
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Peter Pan, Wendy Darling, Captain Hook
Additional Tags: Rule 63, Yuletide Treat
Summary:
Girls, you know, are much too clever to fall out of their prams.
Bookmarker's Notes:
Peter Pan, with a female cast. A group of girls hovering anxiously on the edge of womanhood, with all of the sweetness and viciousness that might entail. The author does a fantastic job of capturing the tone of the original text, while bringing her own insights to the table.
Other - Mountaineering RPF, Sengoku Avenger, Spiders Georg
Five Stories about Tenzing and Hillary (1266 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Himalayan Mountain Climbers RPF, Mountaineering RPF
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Tenzing Norgay, Edmund Percival Hillary
Additional Tags: Yuletide 2014, Yuletide Treat
Summary:
“You can’t see the entire world from the top of Everest, Jamling. The view from there only reminds you how big the world is, and how much more there is to see and learn.”
Bookmarker's Notes:
This isn't actually a piece of fiction. It's someone who's passionately fannish about Hiilary and Tenzing sharing quotes and true stories, recruiting us into their fandom. Read and enjoy!
The Middle Way (5969 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Sengoku Avengers, The Incredible Hulk - All Media Types
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Betty Ross, Bruce Banner, Thaddeus Ross, Kaibutsu, Emil Blonsky
Additional Tags: Jidai Geki, Alternate Universe - Sengoku Jidai, Kurosawa pastiche, Onmyoujutsu, Marvel 1602 Eastern Edition
Summary:
O-Beni, unmarried daughter of General Arashi, holds down her father's fortress while he is away at the capitol. But an incredible man from her past turns up in a snowstorm, bringing far more chaos and anger to her door than anyone anticipated...
Bookmarker's Notes:
Apparently an artist named Alex Mitchell reimagined the Avengers and placed them in the Sengoku period in Japan. And it led to this brilliant story! Bruce Banner is Nobu, a gentle shaman whose attempted rite to stave off a war went horribly wrong. Our protagonist is O-Benji, a young noblewoman trying to balance the needs of her people against her faith in her friend. Layered and delightful.
We Shall Never Lack the Means of Life (1844 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Spiders Georg, Dracula - Bram Stoker
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: R.M. Renfield/Spiders Georg
Characters: R.M. Renfield, Spiders Georg (Character)
Additional Tags: Zoophagy, Spiders, Bugs & Insects, Victorian, Caves, Switzerland, Mountains, Yuletide, Yuletide Treat, Yuletide 2014
Summary:
“Never before have I met another who shares my appreciation for Arachnida as sustenance. I am, you see… something of, how do you say? -The term in Hochdeutsch would be ein Sonderfall.”
“An outlier,” Renfield translated.
“Yes,” said Georg; “an outlier.”
Bookmarker's Notes:
Being an account of the courting of one man with an infamous fondness for arachnidae, by another. Yes, it's Renfield/Spiders George, written in a style that would make Bram Stoker proud. How can you resist?
TV - Almost Human, The Muppet Show, Orphan Black, Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles
Code of Conduct (6314 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Almost Human
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Dorian/Rudy Lom, Dorian/John Kennex, Dorian/DRN-494
Characters: Dorian (Almost Human), John Kennex, Valerie Stahl, Rudy Lom, DRN-494, Sandra Maldonado, Richard Paul
Additional Tags: Angst, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Consent Issues, Banter, lots of swearing, Free Will, Robot/Human Relationships
Summary:
“What? You tell me no all the time,” John objects immediately, turning to face Dorian fully with confusion plain in his expression. “You are downright difficult some days. Most days.”
Which is what you want, Dorian cannot bear to say to him. He knows the moment the thought occurs to John himself anyway. A door behind John's eyes that had started to crack open over the last few months of their partnership - a door neither of them had even acknowledged existed yet - slams shut with finality.
Bookmarker's Notes:
“I don't get it. Why would anyone do...” he waves a hand helplessly at the broken DRN. “That. What's the motivation?”
Dorian looks him steadily in the eye. “There's no need to worry about motivation where there hasn't been a crime, John,” he says evenly, blandly.
This fic highlights the consent issues inherent in this fandom beautifully, in a wonderfully in-character way.
there's not a word yet (for old friends who've just met) (12068 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Muppet Show
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Beaker/Dr. Bunsen Honeydew
Characters: Beaker (Muppets), Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, Kermit the Frog, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo the Great, Scooter (Muppets), Miss Piggy
Additional Tags: Ensemble Cast, Found Family, Canon Typical Violence, science abuse
Summary:
Beaker's sure there's some kind of heartwarming moral in all this, but all he wants to do is get through this safe, sane, and intact. The Muppets may have other plans.
Bookmarker's Notes:
A truly charming yuletide story, in which Beaker finds a home on the Muppet Show. In the words of Fozzie, "Even if none of us are very good at it, we have a lot of fun here." If you need something to cheer you up, this is just the ticket!
If I choose to fall, who's to say it isn't flight? (2581 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Orphan Black (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Siobhan "Mrs. S" Sadler/Amelia
Characters: Amelia (Orphan Black), Siobhan "Mrs. S" Sadler
Additional Tags: Misses Clause Challenge, Chromatic Yuletide
Summary:
Amelia moves to London to find herself.
Bookmarker's Notes:
An interesting glimpse into the lives of Amelia and Siobhan when they first met, many years ago. When someone you thought you knew, maybe even loved, turns out to be someone quite different, betrayal is inevitable.
Intuition and Ingenuity (6670 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Tarissa Dyson & Daniel Dyson
Characters: Daniel Dyson
Additional Tags: Canon Character of Color, POV Character of Color, Male Character of Color, Racism, Stalking
Summary:
Danny knew something was fishy when he got the letter.
Bookmarker's Notes:
Read this for the exquisitely paced build-up of tension. Danny has no idea why he's being targeted, but we do, and it makes this story all the better. Also a fantastic, matter-of-fact look at the normal anxiety and necessary caution for a black male in the US today.
Movies - The Great Mouse Detective, Men in Black
The Red-Furred League (3402 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Basil of Baker Street, David Dawson, Mrs. Judson (The Great Mouse Detective)
Additional Tags: Case Fic, convergent mouse society, i'm sorry i didn't manage to cross this over with the rescuers, references to mouse burlesque, it's not a direct lift
Summary:
A young red mouse comes to Basil of Baker Street with a most unique case.
Bookmarker's Notes:
The author has taken ACD's 'The Red-Headed League' and side-stepped it perfectly into the world of the Great Mouse Detective. Enjoy the scandalous young lady mouse who is their client, rodent banter, and a delightful case fic in the best tradition of Sherlock Holmes!
once you get the feeling it wants you back for more (3883 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Men in Black (Movies)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Agent Jay/Agent Kay
Characters: Agent Jay (Men in Black), Agent Kay (Men in Black)
Additional Tags: Dubious Consent, Memory Alteration, Unhealthy Relationships, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Possessive Behavior, Age Difference, Power Imbalance, Interracial Relationship, Mentor/Protégé, Time Skips, Unreliable Narrator, Requited Love, Outdoor Sex, Semi-Public Sex, Bittersweet Ending, Yuletide Treat, Yuleporn, Crueltide
Summary:
The last thing Jay ever remembers is the flash going off. Then he forgets that too.
Bookmarker's Notes:
Agent Jay wants a relationship with his partner, but Agent K keeps saying no. Or does he? The tags say unreliable narrators and unhealthy relationships, and they do not lie.
Books and Poetry - Church Going, Peter Pan
This Cross Of Ground (100 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Church Going - Philip Larkin
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Additional Tags: Yuletide Treat, Drabble, Far Future, Buildings
Summary:
What were they?
Bookmarker's Notes:
I had never read the poem that is the source here, but I want to recommend this as a superior example of the often maligned drabble. 100 words, polished to sharp-glinting perfection.
And All Things Nice (4444 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Peter Pan - J. M. Barrie
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Peter Pan, Wendy Darling, Captain Hook
Additional Tags: Rule 63, Yuletide Treat
Summary:
Girls, you know, are much too clever to fall out of their prams.
Bookmarker's Notes:
Peter Pan, with a female cast. A group of girls hovering anxiously on the edge of womanhood, with all of the sweetness and viciousness that might entail. The author does a fantastic job of capturing the tone of the original text, while bringing her own insights to the table.
Other - Mountaineering RPF, Sengoku Avenger, Spiders Georg
Five Stories about Tenzing and Hillary (1266 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Himalayan Mountain Climbers RPF, Mountaineering RPF
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Tenzing Norgay, Edmund Percival Hillary
Additional Tags: Yuletide 2014, Yuletide Treat
Summary:
“You can’t see the entire world from the top of Everest, Jamling. The view from there only reminds you how big the world is, and how much more there is to see and learn.”
Bookmarker's Notes:
This isn't actually a piece of fiction. It's someone who's passionately fannish about Hiilary and Tenzing sharing quotes and true stories, recruiting us into their fandom. Read and enjoy!
The Middle Way (5969 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Sengoku Avengers, The Incredible Hulk - All Media Types
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Betty Ross, Bruce Banner, Thaddeus Ross, Kaibutsu, Emil Blonsky
Additional Tags: Jidai Geki, Alternate Universe - Sengoku Jidai, Kurosawa pastiche, Onmyoujutsu, Marvel 1602 Eastern Edition
Summary:
O-Beni, unmarried daughter of General Arashi, holds down her father's fortress while he is away at the capitol. But an incredible man from her past turns up in a snowstorm, bringing far more chaos and anger to her door than anyone anticipated...
Bookmarker's Notes:
Apparently an artist named Alex Mitchell reimagined the Avengers and placed them in the Sengoku period in Japan. And it led to this brilliant story! Bruce Banner is Nobu, a gentle shaman whose attempted rite to stave off a war went horribly wrong. Our protagonist is O-Benji, a young noblewoman trying to balance the needs of her people against her faith in her friend. Layered and delightful.
We Shall Never Lack the Means of Life (1844 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Spiders Georg, Dracula - Bram Stoker
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: R.M. Renfield/Spiders Georg
Characters: R.M. Renfield, Spiders Georg (Character)
Additional Tags: Zoophagy, Spiders, Bugs & Insects, Victorian, Caves, Switzerland, Mountains, Yuletide, Yuletide Treat, Yuletide 2014
Summary:
“Never before have I met another who shares my appreciation for Arachnida as sustenance. I am, you see… something of, how do you say? -The term in Hochdeutsch would be ein Sonderfall.”
“An outlier,” Renfield translated.
“Yes,” said Georg; “an outlier.”
Bookmarker's Notes:
Being an account of the courting of one man with an infamous fondness for arachnidae, by another. Yes, it's Renfield/Spiders George, written in a style that would make Bram Stoker proud. How can you resist?