Yuletide 2010 - Batch 1 (Multifandom)
yes, iamtheenemy and I are still alive. And it's yuletide time, so let the reccing begin...again. So here are the first fifteen I stumbled upon and truly loved.
Yuletide (15 Recs)
1. No Reservations: Narnai - Anthony Bourdain's No Reservation RPF/Chronicles of Narnia [PG-13] - I couldn't resist clicking on this based on the summary and I'm so glad that I did. On the chance of being *punny*, I devoured this fic. I love Tony's voice, so in keeping with his show and books. And the Narnia characters included are written just as well. There is great description of the food, the way you would expect of Anthony Bourdain, and it made me both hungry and a little grossed out (as does his show). Highly recommend this. I’m crammed into a burrow so small that my knees are up around my ears and the boom mike keeps slamming into my head, inhaling the potent scent of toffee-apple brandy and trying to drink a talking mouse under the table. But is it really the boom mike that’s making my head pound? I know for sure that my camera man doesn’t usually have two heads. I have to face facts. The mouse is winning.
2. Tea and Telly - Being Human [G] - Set pre-episode one where George has a night off and gets caught up watching television with Annie before Mitchell joins them. Enjoyable, snarky, and bittersweet. “Well, what about you?” she asked. “First day off in two weeks, and you’re going to spend it at home watching telly? I mean, which one of us is dead here?”
3. Halves - Boondock Saints [R] - This is such a perfect look at the dynamic between Connor and Murphy. Murphy is hurt but is too stubborn to be looked after. Connor is annoyed and over-protective. And I think I love the end where, given all that the acts they commit, they are worried about breaking into a church. Conner had never considered himself to be one singular person. His identity was entirely different. He was half of an identity; an equal part of the person he identified with was Murphy. Maybe it made him a little overprotective.
4. Cal Leandros' 12-Step Program for Surviving Father's Day - Cal Leandros Series by Rob Thurman, Cal/Robin [R] - This story has such great voices for all the characters, especially Robin's narration. I loved Cal's list and the writer made the pairing seem almost inevitable and wonderful by the end. "It's number five I'm worried about," Niko said. "Just don't let him end up on a terrorist watch list or anything, all right?" Then he hung up, leaving Robin to wonder if maybe he should have asked for details about that list.
5. Observe and Detect - Castle, Ryan/Esposito [PG-13] - I'm beginning to wonder if the author of this story writes for the show because the characterizations of every character are spot-on. I loved how Ryan and Esposito just grow out of their friendship into maybe something more. Mostly, the characters are just so perfect. Really. Early morning call-outs usually sucked, but they were particularly brutal on cold Monday mornings after a quiet weekend spent with an Xbox and his Fantasy Baseball league. Esposito was the first one out, so he stopped to get as much coffee as he could carry, along with tea for Lanie.
6. No Second Coming - Dark Is Rising, Will/Bran, Simon/OFC [g] - This is such a perfect future fic based around all the main characters of the books, as the Drews and Bran remember things from their childhood and the dark might rise again. The Will/Bran is just a little sprinkle on the story. Bran dreamt of the Mari Llwyd. He was terribly small, only a boy, frozen in place with nightmare terror while the horse of bones bore down upon him and pale blossoms fell like rain.
7. Making Light - Dark Is Rising, Will/Bran [G] - Domestic fluff - my favorite! Will and Bran in the future, trying to stay warm and being adorable. Need there be more? He did admit to being taken by surprise the summer of their nineteenth year, when Bran walked into his flat to stay the holiday and promptly greeting him with a kiss. Will had taken it, and given back his fair share as well. This was as much an expression of his regard, his devotion, as anything else he had ever done when he met Bran Davies.
8. The Start of Forever - Dark is Rising, Will/Bran [PG-13] - This is such a great piece with perfect characters and emotions and a relationship that develops throughout the years from friendship to more. Bran had been prickly all day and a small part of Will wished that he’d stayed in his own comfortable bed back at the farmhouse. But it was only a small part. Bran was his closest friend and they rarely got to spend time together. He wriggled, trying to find a comfortable position in the small space and his hip bumped Bran’s.
9. Here is Christmas - Earth 2, True & Uly [PG-13] - So, I don't think it's any secret that I adore True Danziger and there aren't nearly enough fics about her. I loved this glimpse of a holiday in her future and the dichotomy of the strong adult woman and the girl who wants to go home and have fun with her best friend. True Danziger slid the sample slide to the side. She hadn't really looked at it, but she found it hard to focus on anything other than her gloomy thoughts. She set her elbows on the lab table and stared up at the top of the tent, frowning in annoyance.
10. Five of the Letters Katniss Never Sent Gale and the One That She Did - Hunger Games, Katniss/Gale & Katniss/Peeta - I'm hardly a Katniss/Gale shipper. It's just not my thing, but this story is more about how much she loved him as best friend/partner-in-crime/what-could've-been-in-a-different-world. I loved the letters and little glimpses into both their lives. I guess I’ve gone over this letter a thousand times in my head, maybe more, but it seems that much harder to actually write something down and put it out there. After the last games and the concussion I suffered they told me to go over things in my head to make them that much clearer. I guess this is what this is; it just seems that little bit harder.
11. This Is Why We Fight - Hunger Games, Katniss/Peeta [G] - A lovely Peeta POV piece here set after the books end. I love seeing things through his eyes and the way he wants things for his daughter he and Katniss never got to know. I also love that Gale is a part of their lives - the idea that Katniss would forever lose her best friend was sad to me - and that Peeta can't hate him. Some days it feels like everything left in the world must be an echo. He stands and watches his children go racing across the meadow, sending the seeds up towards the blue sky. Helicopters, they call them. He remembers whirring rotors, the noise, and then he closes his eyes and opens them and looks at her, standing there with her hair blowing across her face in the light Spring breeze.
12. Broken Knife - The Outsiders [R] - This is such an amazing Johnny piece, focusing on his relationship with Dally. I just love the voices here and it's so perfectly them and puts so much more on how Dally reacts to the unfolding of the story in the book. It seems to Johnny he's been watching Dallas Winston his whole life, so he knows what's what when it comes to Dally. Everything about Dally is sharp, from the way he cuts his hands through the air when he talks, to the way he uses his knuckles on Bo Taylor's nose to break it. Sharp things can't be hurt. They do the hurting. Everybody knows that's how it is.
13. One Day Like This - A Single Man [PG-13] - The movie is intense and depressing, but this is a lovely slice of life between George and Jim set pre-movie. It's nice to see a little happiness for the characters. "Only fools greet the day with a smile," says George, primly.
14. Just One Moment - Terminator Movies, John/Kate [G] - It's just a sweet moment between John and Kate, where they can lean on each other. I love these two. What were once created to help keep us safe, to make our lives easier, had turned against us in the matter of hours. A computer virus had taken over every computer across the globe and shortly after, nuclear war. More than half of the human race disappeared in a blink of the eye.
15. Family - Veritas the Quest [PG-13] - There is never enough fic in this fandom, but luckily the fic there is tends to be really good and this is no except. I love Nikko and Vincent discussing the Veritas family. Nikko stood at the side of the room, his back to a heavy wooden bookshelf, and with two exits in sight. Not that he expected trouble, but he'd learned it was always best to be prepared.
Yuletide (15 Recs)
1. No Reservations: Narnai - Anthony Bourdain's No Reservation RPF/Chronicles of Narnia [PG-13] - I couldn't resist clicking on this based on the summary and I'm so glad that I did. On the chance of being *punny*, I devoured this fic. I love Tony's voice, so in keeping with his show and books. And the Narnia characters included are written just as well. There is great description of the food, the way you would expect of Anthony Bourdain, and it made me both hungry and a little grossed out (as does his show). Highly recommend this. I’m crammed into a burrow so small that my knees are up around my ears and the boom mike keeps slamming into my head, inhaling the potent scent of toffee-apple brandy and trying to drink a talking mouse under the table. But is it really the boom mike that’s making my head pound? I know for sure that my camera man doesn’t usually have two heads. I have to face facts. The mouse is winning.
2. Tea and Telly - Being Human [G] - Set pre-episode one where George has a night off and gets caught up watching television with Annie before Mitchell joins them. Enjoyable, snarky, and bittersweet. “Well, what about you?” she asked. “First day off in two weeks, and you’re going to spend it at home watching telly? I mean, which one of us is dead here?”
3. Halves - Boondock Saints [R] - This is such a perfect look at the dynamic between Connor and Murphy. Murphy is hurt but is too stubborn to be looked after. Connor is annoyed and over-protective. And I think I love the end where, given all that the acts they commit, they are worried about breaking into a church. Conner had never considered himself to be one singular person. His identity was entirely different. He was half of an identity; an equal part of the person he identified with was Murphy. Maybe it made him a little overprotective.
4. Cal Leandros' 12-Step Program for Surviving Father's Day - Cal Leandros Series by Rob Thurman, Cal/Robin [R] - This story has such great voices for all the characters, especially Robin's narration. I loved Cal's list and the writer made the pairing seem almost inevitable and wonderful by the end. "It's number five I'm worried about," Niko said. "Just don't let him end up on a terrorist watch list or anything, all right?" Then he hung up, leaving Robin to wonder if maybe he should have asked for details about that list.
5. Observe and Detect - Castle, Ryan/Esposito [PG-13] - I'm beginning to wonder if the author of this story writes for the show because the characterizations of every character are spot-on. I loved how Ryan and Esposito just grow out of their friendship into maybe something more. Mostly, the characters are just so perfect. Really. Early morning call-outs usually sucked, but they were particularly brutal on cold Monday mornings after a quiet weekend spent with an Xbox and his Fantasy Baseball league. Esposito was the first one out, so he stopped to get as much coffee as he could carry, along with tea for Lanie.
6. No Second Coming - Dark Is Rising, Will/Bran, Simon/OFC [g] - This is such a perfect future fic based around all the main characters of the books, as the Drews and Bran remember things from their childhood and the dark might rise again. The Will/Bran is just a little sprinkle on the story. Bran dreamt of the Mari Llwyd. He was terribly small, only a boy, frozen in place with nightmare terror while the horse of bones bore down upon him and pale blossoms fell like rain.
7. Making Light - Dark Is Rising, Will/Bran [G] - Domestic fluff - my favorite! Will and Bran in the future, trying to stay warm and being adorable. Need there be more? He did admit to being taken by surprise the summer of their nineteenth year, when Bran walked into his flat to stay the holiday and promptly greeting him with a kiss. Will had taken it, and given back his fair share as well. This was as much an expression of his regard, his devotion, as anything else he had ever done when he met Bran Davies.
8. The Start of Forever - Dark is Rising, Will/Bran [PG-13] - This is such a great piece with perfect characters and emotions and a relationship that develops throughout the years from friendship to more. Bran had been prickly all day and a small part of Will wished that he’d stayed in his own comfortable bed back at the farmhouse. But it was only a small part. Bran was his closest friend and they rarely got to spend time together. He wriggled, trying to find a comfortable position in the small space and his hip bumped Bran’s.
9. Here is Christmas - Earth 2, True & Uly [PG-13] - So, I don't think it's any secret that I adore True Danziger and there aren't nearly enough fics about her. I loved this glimpse of a holiday in her future and the dichotomy of the strong adult woman and the girl who wants to go home and have fun with her best friend. True Danziger slid the sample slide to the side. She hadn't really looked at it, but she found it hard to focus on anything other than her gloomy thoughts. She set her elbows on the lab table and stared up at the top of the tent, frowning in annoyance.
10. Five of the Letters Katniss Never Sent Gale and the One That She Did - Hunger Games, Katniss/Gale & Katniss/Peeta - I'm hardly a Katniss/Gale shipper. It's just not my thing, but this story is more about how much she loved him as best friend/partner-in-crime/what-could've-been-in-a-different-world. I loved the letters and little glimpses into both their lives. I guess I’ve gone over this letter a thousand times in my head, maybe more, but it seems that much harder to actually write something down and put it out there. After the last games and the concussion I suffered they told me to go over things in my head to make them that much clearer. I guess this is what this is; it just seems that little bit harder.
11. This Is Why We Fight - Hunger Games, Katniss/Peeta [G] - A lovely Peeta POV piece here set after the books end. I love seeing things through his eyes and the way he wants things for his daughter he and Katniss never got to know. I also love that Gale is a part of their lives - the idea that Katniss would forever lose her best friend was sad to me - and that Peeta can't hate him. Some days it feels like everything left in the world must be an echo. He stands and watches his children go racing across the meadow, sending the seeds up towards the blue sky. Helicopters, they call them. He remembers whirring rotors, the noise, and then he closes his eyes and opens them and looks at her, standing there with her hair blowing across her face in the light Spring breeze.
12. Broken Knife - The Outsiders [R] - This is such an amazing Johnny piece, focusing on his relationship with Dally. I just love the voices here and it's so perfectly them and puts so much more on how Dally reacts to the unfolding of the story in the book. It seems to Johnny he's been watching Dallas Winston his whole life, so he knows what's what when it comes to Dally. Everything about Dally is sharp, from the way he cuts his hands through the air when he talks, to the way he uses his knuckles on Bo Taylor's nose to break it. Sharp things can't be hurt. They do the hurting. Everybody knows that's how it is.
13. One Day Like This - A Single Man [PG-13] - The movie is intense and depressing, but this is a lovely slice of life between George and Jim set pre-movie. It's nice to see a little happiness for the characters. "Only fools greet the day with a smile," says George, primly.
14. Just One Moment - Terminator Movies, John/Kate [G] - It's just a sweet moment between John and Kate, where they can lean on each other. I love these two. What were once created to help keep us safe, to make our lives easier, had turned against us in the matter of hours. A computer virus had taken over every computer across the globe and shortly after, nuclear war. More than half of the human race disappeared in a blink of the eye.
15. Family - Veritas the Quest [PG-13] - There is never enough fic in this fandom, but luckily the fic there is tends to be really good and this is no except. I love Nikko and Vincent discussing the Veritas family. Nikko stood at the side of the room, his back to a heavy wooden bookshelf, and with two exits in sight. Not that he expected trouble, but he'd learned it was always best to be prepared.