Yuletide recs post!
What a good yuletide! I got through the entire alphabet for once, and I am celebrating with RECS!!! These were all amazing. I have to start with my three gifts, though, which were not only for me but were also, in my opinion and without exaggeration, the cream of the crop.
Kill Your Darlings (2013)
To Those Who Will Not Be There For The End (2036 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Kill Your Darlings (2013)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Relationships: David Kammerer/Lucien Carr, Lucien Carr/Allen Ginsberg
Summary: Set in the movie universe, this is a story exploring what happened around the seams. What was going on when Allen and Lucien mostly weren't around? Focused on David Kammerer and William Burroughs and their friendship, and the behavior we put up with from others because of the love we hold for them.
He cared so deeply it was a sickness. It was a poison, a bullet, a noxious gas. They should have bottled up what David felt every day of his goddamn life and sent it over to Europe in bombs.
This gift and the next one are the inaugural fics in my favorite new fandom, a movie of extraordinary lyricism and power, and BOY do they not disappoint. This one, in particular, is a beautiful meditation on friendship and its limitations, how it can fail to prevent the inevitable. And it's so lovely. Full of perfect, poisonous turns of phrase.
this beautiful boy (2079 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Kill Your Darlings (2013)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Relationships: David Kammerer/Lucien Carr, David Kammerer & William Burroughs
Summary: There was something to be said about keeping oneself distant from one’s friends.
Bill said nothing. He thought nothing, he did nothing-he breathed, probably, maybe blinked, but he had no response to that. He needed something to do in New York? Something? Something that he could only do specifically in New York and nowhere else? Fuck that.
This was written by someone who shouldn't write for free. We should all be digging deep in our wallets for the privilege of reading such economical and devastating prose. An incredibly excellent Bill Burroughs, both observer and participant at the beginning of a movement and the end of a life. READ IT, READ IT!
Villette - Charlotte Bronte
Nymphs and Bacchantes (1668 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Villette - Charlotte Brontë
Rating: Mature
Relationships: Ginevra Fanshawe/Lucy Snowe
Summary: After a costume ball, Ginevra comes to visit Lucy.
I pressed against them, yearning, when I so rarely let myself want anything; but the waves of heat had washed Reason overboard. Briefly I knew nothing in the world but that coursing sea, not mere pleasure but fierceness, joy.
I felt like this request was a longshot, and yet I received, in the year 2013, a scene about Lucy Snowe and Ginevra Fanshawe--100% my Victorian lady OTP--HAVING SEX WITH EACH OTHER. But my own cup runneth-ing over aside, this is also perfectly written, in flawless Brontean style, every detail ringing perfectly true. It's a master class in writing Victorian novel-appropriate porn, and it will fit perfectly when I cut it out and paste it into my ACTUAL COPY OF THE DAMN NOVEL. I love this story so much. And if you haven't read Villette, PLEASE READ VILLETTE (and then go read this).
General recs!
21 Jump Street (2012)
We Never Thought We'd Find a Place Where We Belong (6288 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: 21 Jump Street (2012)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Jenko/Schmidt
Summary: Ever since they became friends in the police academy, Jenko and Schmidt have been circling something bigger but their insecurities keep getting in the way. It starts with a hump and it ends with a grope and it takes almost losing each other to finally make it work.
"Oh, my god. Why haven't we been doing this since the academy?" Jenko asks.
"Dude, seriously. Hey, would it be offensive if I asked you to suck on my fingers?"
Flaw-free and hilarious first-time fic. The character voices are to die, and I left it shipping it more.
Aubrey-Maturin Series - Patrick O'Brian
Adrift Ashore (6027 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Aubrey-Maturin Series - Patrick O'Brian
Rating: General Audiences
Relationships: Jack Aubrey/Sophie Williams, Stephen Maturin/Diana Villiers
Summary: Jack Aubrey was having a devil of a day.
Killick muttered most of the way about how should they ever find the Doctor, in that press of lubbers and pickpockets, but Bonden expressed confidence that the Doctor would be found gazing at the beasts in the menagerie, and begged Killick to ‘Put a fucking stopper in it’.
What fun to read such affectionate, spot-on, and fun gen in this fandom, where it does take such talent to get it right.
Baby-Sitters Club - Ann M. Martin
Something Old, Something New (3780 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Baby-Sitters Club - Ann M. Martin
Rating: General Audiences
Relationships: Abby Stevenson/Kristy Thomas, Mallory Pike/Jessi Ramsey, Mary Anne Spier/Charlie Thomas
Summary: With old friends back in Stoneybrook for a wedding, it's the perfect time for Abby to catch up with her former BSC buddies. Or would be, if Kristy didn't seem to be avoiding her.
It was a good thing I’d borrowed my sister’s car for the trip to the airport. It’s roomy - roomy enough to carry the instruments of all four member of her string quartet - and was therefore roomy enough to carry all three of the suitcases belonging to Claudia Kishi which she seemed to have felt the need to bring back to Stoneybrook with her.
“You’re only here for a fortnight, Kishi,” I pointed out as I hugged her hello.
It's not Yuletide without some BSC femslash, but for my money, there's nothing more charming than flawlessly executed Abby Stevenson narration. Abby is my forever crush, and this author gets it, and my face hurt from smiling.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
a distinct lack of tutus (2879 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Relationships: Rosa Diaz/Amy Santiago
Summary: "Sure, whatever," says Diaz. She slouches even further into today's leather jacket. "Women hit on me all the time. I know how to handle it."
It's killing me how good this Santiago is. Many great Nine-Nine fics this year, but here's my favorite.
Catherine, Called Birdy - Karen Cushman
Aislinn of Greenwood (1619 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Catherine Called Birdy - Karen Cushman
Rating: General Audiences
Summary: A month in the life of Catherine's daughter.
I quite like Birdy, the girl in my book. She is clever and kind and I think we should have been good friends if we were alive at the same time. I wonder what became of her.
Of course this is Catherine's daughter. Of course. So right and so charming throughout.
Cloud Atlas (All Media Types)
Shut your wild eyes (with kisses four) (1064 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Cloud Atlas - All Media Types
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Relationships: Robert Frobisher/Rufus Sixsmith
Summary: Everything else can wait, but will not.
‘Andante Espressivo.’ He draws a languorous line up your left calf. ‘Hate it when pimply violinist ham up the sentimentality. Ruins the whole thing really.’ Cradling your hip in one hand, he grins down at you, wolfish. ‘But then, a man of science like you, Sixsmith, must know all about curbing the keener emotions.’
A lovely unexpected bit of "porn with feelings," as the tags say -- perfectly in character, and so many wonderful lines that have stuck with me.
Clue (1985)
Miss Scarlet / In the Hallway / Without the Revolver (2819 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Clue (1985)
Rating: General Audiences
Summary: From the prompt: "What if the FBI agent in the movie wasn't Mr. Green, but Miss Scarlet? Feel free to involve the whole gang here."
“Somebody help me, please,” he said, and she ran to him, her heels clacking on the floor and cigarette falling. It was a mummer’s show of help, useless except to maintain her image as a luxurious urban-dweller unused to bloodshed. The real help would come later, when Green needed someone in the bureau to hush up the rumors about him, to vouch for him. She imagined it: the Chief looking over photos of the dead body, frowning across his desk. “And you say his prints are only on the knife because he caught the dead body?” Next picture. “How do you know he didn’t stick it in her?”
“Oh,” Scarlet would say with an infinitesimal smirk, “he would never.”
The kind of thing you never knew you needed until you read it and it fills a little emptiness. And it could not be executed better--hits every mark.
Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons/The World's End (2013)
The Untidy Lot (2838 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Cold Comfort Farm - All Media Types, The World's End (2013)
Rating: General Audiences
Summary: American moviegoers are swooning for Seth Starkadder. But there's something unnerving about life on the Hollywood backlots. They're only after one thing: your blood. Your breath. Your life. Which is why Seth is ever so glad when Flora Poste drops in for a studio tour.
“While I sympathize, I can’t really endorse your methods,” said Flora. “Isn’t it better to help people discover their inner potential themselves?”
I'm still speechless at this. I love both fandoms, but never in a million years would have drawn the connection between Flora Poste's renovation of the lives of others and the Network. This is what Yuletide is all about. Ingenious.
Coriolanus - Shakespeare
Sleight (2389 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Coriolanus - Shakespeare
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Relationships: Tullus Aufidius/Caius Martius
Summary: This is a hate story.
His mother used to tell him an old story about two wolves, so equally matched they would never stop fighting. The Gods tired of their battle, their snarling and snapping, yelps and howls, so they put them in the sky, never able to meet in battle again. As he battles against this consuming hate, he wishes there was a force that would keep them apart forever.
The kind of fic you always wanted to read in this fandom -- brutal and unforgiving and hot. The kind of thing you force your friends to read immediately.
Cotillion - Georgette Heyer
The Birds and the Bees (4280 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Cotillion - Georgette Heyer
Rating: General Audiences
Relationships: Kitty Charing/Freddy Standen
Summary: In which Lord Legerwood has a conversation with his son, with predictable results, and Kitty provides Freddy with enlightenment.
Kitty covered her face again, and it was nearly a full minute before she'd recovered herself sufficiently to say unsteadily, "Freddy, do you mean to say you've never heard the expression 'the birds and the bees' before?"
"Should I have?" Freddy asked in bewilderment. "Don't see why I should. Like I told m'father: ain't fond of either. Prefer the city to the country. Reason I always made jolly well sure I never got rusticated," he added with justifiable pride.
Another thing that I didn't know I needed until I read it, and my personal vote for the best Heyer fic of this yuletide. This Freddy could not be more charming and silly and Standentastic.
Disney Princesses
Four Things that Weren't Adequately Covered in Mulan's R.A. Training (4541 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Disney Princesses
Rating: General Audiences
Summary: Mulan is a Resident Assistant on a dormitory floor at a college. Gosh, some of the students on her floor come from really screwed-up families.
I kind of thought someone ought to tell Tiana to slow down, but honestly, I was a little intimidated by how incredibly capable she was. (There are people who apparently feel that way about me, which cracks me up. They should have seen me in Basic. OH HAI, I AM AN ARMY OF ONE. WATCH ME TRIP OVER MY OWN FEET WHILE MARCHING AND BE TOTALLY UNABLE TO DO PUSH-UPS.)
Listen, I know this has probably been recced nine million times, but it's my favorite and I can't leave it out. Genius from word one to word the last. Believe the hype. Yuletide winner.
Folgers Holiday Commercial (2009)
Where the Heart Is (7194 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Folgers Holiday Commercial (2009), Folgerscest - Fandom
Relationships: Brother/Sister, folgerscest
Summary: After spending five years in West Africa, a young man returns home to the United States for the holidays. But sometimes home isn't a place so much as it is a person.
Nothing says Yuletide like Brother and Sister sticking bows on each other and then having sex. And this is a very worthy entry to God's own fandom. Bless it.
Frances Ha (2012)
the wine on our breath puts the love in our tongues (1470 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Frances Ha (2012)
Rating: General Audiences
Relationships: Frances Halladay & Sophie Levee, Frances Halladay & Benji
Summary: Frances throws a Christmas party, albeit, in Sophie’s apartment.
“You didn’t think my eggnog would be good enough for your stranger friends?”
Spare and beautiful like the source--a very quiet, very lovely gem.
Galaxy Quest (1999)
The Space Between (5366 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Galaxy Quest (1999)
Rating: General Audiences
Relationships: Alexander Dane/Jason Nesmith, Gwen DeMarco/Jason Nesmith, Alexander Dane/Gwen DeMarco
Summary: Alexander Dane is asked to come out of retirement to play Lazarus Prime in the reboot of Galaxy Quest.
Jason still didn’t understand the question but he was curious. “Do you remember yours?”
Alex nodded again. “I remember everything.”
Feelings explosion. This is so great I remember wondering what I had done to deserve something so thoughtful and emotionally expressive.
The Godfather
Fuit Quondam (4869 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: The Godfather (1972 1974 1990)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Relationships: Connie Corleone Rizzi & Michael Corleone, Connie Corleone Rizzi & Santino "Sonny" Corleone, Connie Corleone Rizzi & Vito Corleone, Connie Corleone Rizzi/Carlo Rizzi, Kay Adams/Michael Corleone, Connie Corleone Rizzi & Frederico "Fredo" Corleone, Connie Corleone Rizzi & Carmella Corleone
Summary: Being a Corleone is supposed to be different when you're a woman. Connie and her brothers through the years.
Michael, as a woman, given no opportunity to use that cold relentless mind of his for anything but dinner calculations, would have committed suicide.
Shockingly, heart-clenchingly good. One of my favorites of the year.
The Heat (2013)
Brass in Pocket (7111 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: The Heat (2013)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Relationships: Sarah Ashburn/Shannon Mullins
Summary: Ashburn and Mullins from Thanksgiving til Christmas, featuring a holiday dinner, a condemned apartment, unexpected cohabitation, and unwise Christmas gifts.
Mullins sighs when she figures it out. "Are you gesturing to your vagina right now? All the way in the other room, where I can't see you? Is that how you're trying to communicate?"
"Well it works, because that's exactly what I'm doing," Ashburn says.
I don't know if I would have even sought this pairing out, but you read this and you say, "Oh, of course." Could not be more charming, funny, and in character.
Henry IV Part I/The Hollow Crown
Sparks of Better Hope (1721 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: The Hollow Crown (2012), Henry IV Part 1 - Shakespeare
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Relationships: Prince Hal/Falstaff, Prince Hal/Ned Poins/Falstaff, Prince Hal/Ned Poins
Summary: Too late for Christmas, too early for the new year. (Or, Hal makes himself inconvenient in as many ways as possible.)
He himself is old, and as dissolute as it is possible to be when simply hauling oneself out of one chair and collapsing into another can leave one winded. Hal is carefree and keen and cruel, and he is young. Falstaff is his own philosopher with his own school, and if he has anything to impart, it is that the likes of them should hold love at arm's length when they can, and have little to do with it.
A gem, funny and sad all at once. Plus it has my favorite tag of all yuletide: "Gross Snuggling."
The History Boys
writing it down (4444 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: History Boys (2006), History Boys - Bennett
Rating: General Audiences
Relationships: Stuart Dakin/Donald Scripps
Summary: Scripps' diary of his first term at Oxford.
Christ, sound like Hardy after too much sherry. Someone stop me.
The kind of perfect thing that drags you back into an old fandom. Perfect Scripps, and a great use of the epistolary format.
Legally Blonde (2001)
Serious (8795 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Legally Blonde (2001)
Rating: Explicit
Relationships: Vivian Kensington/Elle Woods
Summary: Elle's always noticed women. Elle, Enid, and Vivian, lovers and friends in law school, learning how to be who they are.
"So. Girl talk," Elle said, dropping Enid's kit on top of Tort Law in the trunk of her car. "What do you do if you're having homosexual thoughts?"
Maybe the best one I read this year. Certainly the one I keep remembering and blushing. This is why fic exists.
Maurice - E.M. Forster
Alec (3407 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Maurice - E. M. Forster
Rating: Mature
Relationships: Maurice Hall/Alec Scudder, Anne Durham/Clive Durham
Summary: Two relationships, more than a decade in.
"Let me just call me legs," Alec said, and both Miltons and their interested friends booed him good-naturedly for the trickery. Alec grinned and whistled bright and piercing between his fingers.
Maurice looked up. He came when Alec beckoned.
Maybe my favorite Maurice fic ever. Exactly the post-canon I always wanted.
Now You See Me (2013)
Push Into the Sky (5029 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Now You See Me (2013)
Rating: General Audiences
Characters: Dylan Rhodes, Merritt McKinney, Henley Reeves, J. Daniel Atlas, Jack Wilder, Alma Dray
Summary: When the long con's over, what's left?
"There's only four Horsemen," Dylan said. That had been the plan. Four faces to do the job, and him behind the scenes to get it done. He should have thought more of after.
"Yeah. But you can ride with me," Jack said, winking.
I love this as a more realistic ending to an outlandish (but much loved) film. Very clever.
Stoker (2013)
Paterfamilias (1788 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Stoker (2013)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Characters: Richard Stoker
Summary: The cause is long since lost. Richard Stoker's life as measured out in documents.
When India is five he forces himself to sit down and to read through the typewritten reports and Xeroxed files in their manila folders that the Institute seems to have sent once yearly, and his suspicions are confirmed, that his father never so much as paged through them. They still bear their original paperclips, undisturbed. When he has read his fill of the awful news (awful for being ordinary and unavoidable) he runs them through the paper shredder in twos and threes and makes them into illegible inky peels. Richard still seeks the words which will absolve him.
Fascinating character piece on an enigmatic character -- much recommended.
Tombstone (1993)
Musical Chairs (2384 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Tombstone (1993)
Characters: Doc Holliday, Morgan Earp, Wyatt Earp, Virgil Earp
Summary: There are men who want peace and all kinds of complicated things. Doc Holliday's never been one of them.
Morgan had survived long enough to recognize a dangerous thought just as easily as a dangerous man. Morgan hunkered down further over his cards, trying to quash the thoughts because the room was already chock-full of dangerous men.
When I tell you this is one of my favorite Tombstone fics EVEN THOUGH the pairing (a nice surprise) was not my OTP, I hope that expresses how truly good this fic is, and how it made me see a new and fascinating and SAAAAD possibility.
The Westing Game - Ellen Raskin
The Theodorakis Guide to the Heirs of North America (3649 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Westing Game - Ellen Raskin
Characters: Chris Theodorakis, Theo Theodorakis, Josie-Jo Ford, Shirley Staver, Turtle Wexler, Sydelle Pulaski, Denton Deere, Flora Baumbach
Summary: In which life happens, as life is prone to doing.
Chris grins at her. What fun! He’s totally going to ask Judge Ford to draw him up something legal-sounding for Turtle to sign, just so he can use it later in his best man’s speech.
Excellent post-canon; perfect Chris POV, excited by everything in the most charming way.
Compensation (3769 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Westing Game - Ellen Raskin
Rating: General Audiences
Characters: Josie-Jo Ford, Turtle Wexler, Sam Westing
Summary: Judge Ford remembers her chess games with Sam Westing, and tries to pay forward some more old debts.
There was a long silence. The clock ticked. Mr. Westing tapped his rook against the board once - twice - three times - then moved it forward. “You have asked the right question, Miss Ford.” And then he actually smiled, showing even white teeth in a sharp line above his goatee.
Oh, this Ford POV is to die for. I love playing up the similarities and differences between her and Turtle. Very thoughtful and intelligent.
The World's End (2013)
Andy and The Lost Boys (feat. Gary King) (3182 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: The World's End (2013)
Rating: General Audiences
Characters: Gary King, Andy
Summary: Just what is it that you want to do?
(Adult him got fat. And had stupid glasses. And had a kid. And the kid wasn't even a cool kid--she had snot on her face, and didn't know who Spiderman was. And his wife wasn't even that hot--nothing like Gillian Anderson. And old fat stupid glasses-wearing adult him had held their hands so tenderly, his snotty dumb kid and his old ugly thin wife, like they were the most precious things in the world, and Andy didn't have any place in that. Didn't even want it really. Blanks don't get old. Blanks stay exactly the same.)
Fills in the blanks (haha) perfectly. It's a wonderful, funny, perfectly written piece. I want to hug it to my chest.
Kill Your Darlings (2013)
To Those Who Will Not Be There For The End (2036 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Kill Your Darlings (2013)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Relationships: David Kammerer/Lucien Carr, Lucien Carr/Allen Ginsberg
Summary: Set in the movie universe, this is a story exploring what happened around the seams. What was going on when Allen and Lucien mostly weren't around? Focused on David Kammerer and William Burroughs and their friendship, and the behavior we put up with from others because of the love we hold for them.
He cared so deeply it was a sickness. It was a poison, a bullet, a noxious gas. They should have bottled up what David felt every day of his goddamn life and sent it over to Europe in bombs.
This gift and the next one are the inaugural fics in my favorite new fandom, a movie of extraordinary lyricism and power, and BOY do they not disappoint. This one, in particular, is a beautiful meditation on friendship and its limitations, how it can fail to prevent the inevitable. And it's so lovely. Full of perfect, poisonous turns of phrase.
this beautiful boy (2079 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Kill Your Darlings (2013)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Relationships: David Kammerer/Lucien Carr, David Kammerer & William Burroughs
Summary: There was something to be said about keeping oneself distant from one’s friends.
Bill said nothing. He thought nothing, he did nothing-he breathed, probably, maybe blinked, but he had no response to that. He needed something to do in New York? Something? Something that he could only do specifically in New York and nowhere else? Fuck that.
This was written by someone who shouldn't write for free. We should all be digging deep in our wallets for the privilege of reading such economical and devastating prose. An incredibly excellent Bill Burroughs, both observer and participant at the beginning of a movement and the end of a life. READ IT, READ IT!
Villette - Charlotte Bronte
Nymphs and Bacchantes (1668 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Villette - Charlotte Brontë
Rating: Mature
Relationships: Ginevra Fanshawe/Lucy Snowe
Summary: After a costume ball, Ginevra comes to visit Lucy.
I pressed against them, yearning, when I so rarely let myself want anything; but the waves of heat had washed Reason overboard. Briefly I knew nothing in the world but that coursing sea, not mere pleasure but fierceness, joy.
I felt like this request was a longshot, and yet I received, in the year 2013, a scene about Lucy Snowe and Ginevra Fanshawe--100% my Victorian lady OTP--HAVING SEX WITH EACH OTHER. But my own cup runneth-ing over aside, this is also perfectly written, in flawless Brontean style, every detail ringing perfectly true. It's a master class in writing Victorian novel-appropriate porn, and it will fit perfectly when I cut it out and paste it into my ACTUAL COPY OF THE DAMN NOVEL. I love this story so much. And if you haven't read Villette, PLEASE READ VILLETTE (and then go read this).
General recs!
21 Jump Street (2012)
We Never Thought We'd Find a Place Where We Belong (6288 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: 21 Jump Street (2012)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Jenko/Schmidt
Summary: Ever since they became friends in the police academy, Jenko and Schmidt have been circling something bigger but their insecurities keep getting in the way. It starts with a hump and it ends with a grope and it takes almost losing each other to finally make it work.
"Oh, my god. Why haven't we been doing this since the academy?" Jenko asks.
"Dude, seriously. Hey, would it be offensive if I asked you to suck on my fingers?"
Flaw-free and hilarious first-time fic. The character voices are to die, and I left it shipping it more.
Aubrey-Maturin Series - Patrick O'Brian
Adrift Ashore (6027 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Aubrey-Maturin Series - Patrick O'Brian
Rating: General Audiences
Relationships: Jack Aubrey/Sophie Williams, Stephen Maturin/Diana Villiers
Summary: Jack Aubrey was having a devil of a day.
Killick muttered most of the way about how should they ever find the Doctor, in that press of lubbers and pickpockets, but Bonden expressed confidence that the Doctor would be found gazing at the beasts in the menagerie, and begged Killick to ‘Put a fucking stopper in it’.
What fun to read such affectionate, spot-on, and fun gen in this fandom, where it does take such talent to get it right.
Baby-Sitters Club - Ann M. Martin
Something Old, Something New (3780 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Baby-Sitters Club - Ann M. Martin
Rating: General Audiences
Relationships: Abby Stevenson/Kristy Thomas, Mallory Pike/Jessi Ramsey, Mary Anne Spier/Charlie Thomas
Summary: With old friends back in Stoneybrook for a wedding, it's the perfect time for Abby to catch up with her former BSC buddies. Or would be, if Kristy didn't seem to be avoiding her.
It was a good thing I’d borrowed my sister’s car for the trip to the airport. It’s roomy - roomy enough to carry the instruments of all four member of her string quartet - and was therefore roomy enough to carry all three of the suitcases belonging to Claudia Kishi which she seemed to have felt the need to bring back to Stoneybrook with her.
“You’re only here for a fortnight, Kishi,” I pointed out as I hugged her hello.
It's not Yuletide without some BSC femslash, but for my money, there's nothing more charming than flawlessly executed Abby Stevenson narration. Abby is my forever crush, and this author gets it, and my face hurt from smiling.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
a distinct lack of tutus (2879 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Relationships: Rosa Diaz/Amy Santiago
Summary: "Sure, whatever," says Diaz. She slouches even further into today's leather jacket. "Women hit on me all the time. I know how to handle it."
It's killing me how good this Santiago is. Many great Nine-Nine fics this year, but here's my favorite.
Catherine, Called Birdy - Karen Cushman
Aislinn of Greenwood (1619 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Catherine Called Birdy - Karen Cushman
Rating: General Audiences
Summary: A month in the life of Catherine's daughter.
I quite like Birdy, the girl in my book. She is clever and kind and I think we should have been good friends if we were alive at the same time. I wonder what became of her.
Of course this is Catherine's daughter. Of course. So right and so charming throughout.
Cloud Atlas (All Media Types)
Shut your wild eyes (with kisses four) (1064 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Cloud Atlas - All Media Types
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Relationships: Robert Frobisher/Rufus Sixsmith
Summary: Everything else can wait, but will not.
‘Andante Espressivo.’ He draws a languorous line up your left calf. ‘Hate it when pimply violinist ham up the sentimentality. Ruins the whole thing really.’ Cradling your hip in one hand, he grins down at you, wolfish. ‘But then, a man of science like you, Sixsmith, must know all about curbing the keener emotions.’
A lovely unexpected bit of "porn with feelings," as the tags say -- perfectly in character, and so many wonderful lines that have stuck with me.
Clue (1985)
Miss Scarlet / In the Hallway / Without the Revolver (2819 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Clue (1985)
Rating: General Audiences
Summary: From the prompt: "What if the FBI agent in the movie wasn't Mr. Green, but Miss Scarlet? Feel free to involve the whole gang here."
“Somebody help me, please,” he said, and she ran to him, her heels clacking on the floor and cigarette falling. It was a mummer’s show of help, useless except to maintain her image as a luxurious urban-dweller unused to bloodshed. The real help would come later, when Green needed someone in the bureau to hush up the rumors about him, to vouch for him. She imagined it: the Chief looking over photos of the dead body, frowning across his desk. “And you say his prints are only on the knife because he caught the dead body?” Next picture. “How do you know he didn’t stick it in her?”
“Oh,” Scarlet would say with an infinitesimal smirk, “he would never.”
The kind of thing you never knew you needed until you read it and it fills a little emptiness. And it could not be executed better--hits every mark.
Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons/The World's End (2013)
The Untidy Lot (2838 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Cold Comfort Farm - All Media Types, The World's End (2013)
Rating: General Audiences
Summary: American moviegoers are swooning for Seth Starkadder. But there's something unnerving about life on the Hollywood backlots. They're only after one thing: your blood. Your breath. Your life. Which is why Seth is ever so glad when Flora Poste drops in for a studio tour.
“While I sympathize, I can’t really endorse your methods,” said Flora. “Isn’t it better to help people discover their inner potential themselves?”
I'm still speechless at this. I love both fandoms, but never in a million years would have drawn the connection between Flora Poste's renovation of the lives of others and the Network. This is what Yuletide is all about. Ingenious.
Coriolanus - Shakespeare
Sleight (2389 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Coriolanus - Shakespeare
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Relationships: Tullus Aufidius/Caius Martius
Summary: This is a hate story.
His mother used to tell him an old story about two wolves, so equally matched they would never stop fighting. The Gods tired of their battle, their snarling and snapping, yelps and howls, so they put them in the sky, never able to meet in battle again. As he battles against this consuming hate, he wishes there was a force that would keep them apart forever.
The kind of fic you always wanted to read in this fandom -- brutal and unforgiving and hot. The kind of thing you force your friends to read immediately.
Cotillion - Georgette Heyer
The Birds and the Bees (4280 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Cotillion - Georgette Heyer
Rating: General Audiences
Relationships: Kitty Charing/Freddy Standen
Summary: In which Lord Legerwood has a conversation with his son, with predictable results, and Kitty provides Freddy with enlightenment.
Kitty covered her face again, and it was nearly a full minute before she'd recovered herself sufficiently to say unsteadily, "Freddy, do you mean to say you've never heard the expression 'the birds and the bees' before?"
"Should I have?" Freddy asked in bewilderment. "Don't see why I should. Like I told m'father: ain't fond of either. Prefer the city to the country. Reason I always made jolly well sure I never got rusticated," he added with justifiable pride.
Another thing that I didn't know I needed until I read it, and my personal vote for the best Heyer fic of this yuletide. This Freddy could not be more charming and silly and Standentastic.
Disney Princesses
Four Things that Weren't Adequately Covered in Mulan's R.A. Training (4541 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Disney Princesses
Rating: General Audiences
Summary: Mulan is a Resident Assistant on a dormitory floor at a college. Gosh, some of the students on her floor come from really screwed-up families.
I kind of thought someone ought to tell Tiana to slow down, but honestly, I was a little intimidated by how incredibly capable she was. (There are people who apparently feel that way about me, which cracks me up. They should have seen me in Basic. OH HAI, I AM AN ARMY OF ONE. WATCH ME TRIP OVER MY OWN FEET WHILE MARCHING AND BE TOTALLY UNABLE TO DO PUSH-UPS.)
Listen, I know this has probably been recced nine million times, but it's my favorite and I can't leave it out. Genius from word one to word the last. Believe the hype. Yuletide winner.
Folgers Holiday Commercial (2009)
Where the Heart Is (7194 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Folgers Holiday Commercial (2009), Folgerscest - Fandom
Relationships: Brother/Sister, folgerscest
Summary: After spending five years in West Africa, a young man returns home to the United States for the holidays. But sometimes home isn't a place so much as it is a person.
Nothing says Yuletide like Brother and Sister sticking bows on each other and then having sex. And this is a very worthy entry to God's own fandom. Bless it.
Frances Ha (2012)
the wine on our breath puts the love in our tongues (1470 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Frances Ha (2012)
Rating: General Audiences
Relationships: Frances Halladay & Sophie Levee, Frances Halladay & Benji
Summary: Frances throws a Christmas party, albeit, in Sophie’s apartment.
“You didn’t think my eggnog would be good enough for your stranger friends?”
Spare and beautiful like the source--a very quiet, very lovely gem.
Galaxy Quest (1999)
The Space Between (5366 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Galaxy Quest (1999)
Rating: General Audiences
Relationships: Alexander Dane/Jason Nesmith, Gwen DeMarco/Jason Nesmith, Alexander Dane/Gwen DeMarco
Summary: Alexander Dane is asked to come out of retirement to play Lazarus Prime in the reboot of Galaxy Quest.
Jason still didn’t understand the question but he was curious. “Do you remember yours?”
Alex nodded again. “I remember everything.”
Feelings explosion. This is so great I remember wondering what I had done to deserve something so thoughtful and emotionally expressive.
The Godfather
Fuit Quondam (4869 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: The Godfather (1972 1974 1990)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Relationships: Connie Corleone Rizzi & Michael Corleone, Connie Corleone Rizzi & Santino "Sonny" Corleone, Connie Corleone Rizzi & Vito Corleone, Connie Corleone Rizzi/Carlo Rizzi, Kay Adams/Michael Corleone, Connie Corleone Rizzi & Frederico "Fredo" Corleone, Connie Corleone Rizzi & Carmella Corleone
Summary: Being a Corleone is supposed to be different when you're a woman. Connie and her brothers through the years.
Michael, as a woman, given no opportunity to use that cold relentless mind of his for anything but dinner calculations, would have committed suicide.
Shockingly, heart-clenchingly good. One of my favorites of the year.
The Heat (2013)
Brass in Pocket (7111 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: The Heat (2013)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Relationships: Sarah Ashburn/Shannon Mullins
Summary: Ashburn and Mullins from Thanksgiving til Christmas, featuring a holiday dinner, a condemned apartment, unexpected cohabitation, and unwise Christmas gifts.
Mullins sighs when she figures it out. "Are you gesturing to your vagina right now? All the way in the other room, where I can't see you? Is that how you're trying to communicate?"
"Well it works, because that's exactly what I'm doing," Ashburn says.
I don't know if I would have even sought this pairing out, but you read this and you say, "Oh, of course." Could not be more charming, funny, and in character.
Henry IV Part I/The Hollow Crown
Sparks of Better Hope (1721 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: The Hollow Crown (2012), Henry IV Part 1 - Shakespeare
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Relationships: Prince Hal/Falstaff, Prince Hal/Ned Poins/Falstaff, Prince Hal/Ned Poins
Summary: Too late for Christmas, too early for the new year. (Or, Hal makes himself inconvenient in as many ways as possible.)
He himself is old, and as dissolute as it is possible to be when simply hauling oneself out of one chair and collapsing into another can leave one winded. Hal is carefree and keen and cruel, and he is young. Falstaff is his own philosopher with his own school, and if he has anything to impart, it is that the likes of them should hold love at arm's length when they can, and have little to do with it.
A gem, funny and sad all at once. Plus it has my favorite tag of all yuletide: "Gross Snuggling."
The History Boys
writing it down (4444 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: History Boys (2006), History Boys - Bennett
Rating: General Audiences
Relationships: Stuart Dakin/Donald Scripps
Summary: Scripps' diary of his first term at Oxford.
Christ, sound like Hardy after too much sherry. Someone stop me.
The kind of perfect thing that drags you back into an old fandom. Perfect Scripps, and a great use of the epistolary format.
Legally Blonde (2001)
Serious (8795 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Legally Blonde (2001)
Rating: Explicit
Relationships: Vivian Kensington/Elle Woods
Summary: Elle's always noticed women. Elle, Enid, and Vivian, lovers and friends in law school, learning how to be who they are.
"So. Girl talk," Elle said, dropping Enid's kit on top of Tort Law in the trunk of her car. "What do you do if you're having homosexual thoughts?"
Maybe the best one I read this year. Certainly the one I keep remembering and blushing. This is why fic exists.
Maurice - E.M. Forster
Alec (3407 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Maurice - E. M. Forster
Rating: Mature
Relationships: Maurice Hall/Alec Scudder, Anne Durham/Clive Durham
Summary: Two relationships, more than a decade in.
"Let me just call me legs," Alec said, and both Miltons and their interested friends booed him good-naturedly for the trickery. Alec grinned and whistled bright and piercing between his fingers.
Maurice looked up. He came when Alec beckoned.
Maybe my favorite Maurice fic ever. Exactly the post-canon I always wanted.
Now You See Me (2013)
Push Into the Sky (5029 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Now You See Me (2013)
Rating: General Audiences
Characters: Dylan Rhodes, Merritt McKinney, Henley Reeves, J. Daniel Atlas, Jack Wilder, Alma Dray
Summary: When the long con's over, what's left?
"There's only four Horsemen," Dylan said. That had been the plan. Four faces to do the job, and him behind the scenes to get it done. He should have thought more of after.
"Yeah. But you can ride with me," Jack said, winking.
I love this as a more realistic ending to an outlandish (but much loved) film. Very clever.
Stoker (2013)
Paterfamilias (1788 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Stoker (2013)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Characters: Richard Stoker
Summary: The cause is long since lost. Richard Stoker's life as measured out in documents.
When India is five he forces himself to sit down and to read through the typewritten reports and Xeroxed files in their manila folders that the Institute seems to have sent once yearly, and his suspicions are confirmed, that his father never so much as paged through them. They still bear their original paperclips, undisturbed. When he has read his fill of the awful news (awful for being ordinary and unavoidable) he runs them through the paper shredder in twos and threes and makes them into illegible inky peels. Richard still seeks the words which will absolve him.
Fascinating character piece on an enigmatic character -- much recommended.
Tombstone (1993)
Musical Chairs (2384 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Tombstone (1993)
Characters: Doc Holliday, Morgan Earp, Wyatt Earp, Virgil Earp
Summary: There are men who want peace and all kinds of complicated things. Doc Holliday's never been one of them.
Morgan had survived long enough to recognize a dangerous thought just as easily as a dangerous man. Morgan hunkered down further over his cards, trying to quash the thoughts because the room was already chock-full of dangerous men.
When I tell you this is one of my favorite Tombstone fics EVEN THOUGH the pairing (a nice surprise) was not my OTP, I hope that expresses how truly good this fic is, and how it made me see a new and fascinating and SAAAAD possibility.
The Westing Game - Ellen Raskin
The Theodorakis Guide to the Heirs of North America (3649 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Westing Game - Ellen Raskin
Characters: Chris Theodorakis, Theo Theodorakis, Josie-Jo Ford, Shirley Staver, Turtle Wexler, Sydelle Pulaski, Denton Deere, Flora Baumbach
Summary: In which life happens, as life is prone to doing.
Chris grins at her. What fun! He’s totally going to ask Judge Ford to draw him up something legal-sounding for Turtle to sign, just so he can use it later in his best man’s speech.
Excellent post-canon; perfect Chris POV, excited by everything in the most charming way.
Compensation (3769 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Westing Game - Ellen Raskin
Rating: General Audiences
Characters: Josie-Jo Ford, Turtle Wexler, Sam Westing
Summary: Judge Ford remembers her chess games with Sam Westing, and tries to pay forward some more old debts.
There was a long silence. The clock ticked. Mr. Westing tapped his rook against the board once - twice - three times - then moved it forward. “You have asked the right question, Miss Ford.” And then he actually smiled, showing even white teeth in a sharp line above his goatee.
Oh, this Ford POV is to die for. I love playing up the similarities and differences between her and Turtle. Very thoughtful and intelligent.
The World's End (2013)
Andy and The Lost Boys (feat. Gary King) (3182 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: The World's End (2013)
Rating: General Audiences
Characters: Gary King, Andy
Summary: Just what is it that you want to do?
(Adult him got fat. And had stupid glasses. And had a kid. And the kid wasn't even a cool kid--she had snot on her face, and didn't know who Spiderman was. And his wife wasn't even that hot--nothing like Gillian Anderson. And old fat stupid glasses-wearing adult him had held their hands so tenderly, his snotty dumb kid and his old ugly thin wife, like they were the most precious things in the world, and Andy didn't have any place in that. Didn't even want it really. Blanks don't get old. Blanks stay exactly the same.)
Fills in the blanks (haha) perfectly. It's a wonderful, funny, perfectly written piece. I want to hug it to my chest.