Yuletide recs 2021: Part 2!

[wakeupnew]

MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
Notes on a Nondescript Vegetable
(The most moving and scientifically-described of sex pollens. THE YEARNING!!!)

"Deep in thought indeed, to leave such wine as this untasted," came a laugh from somewhere to the side—Howard, surely, his voice already loud and vinous. But Stephen could not take a moment to regard him. For the lantern-light was touching Jack's neatly-tied hair, stroking and smoothing like warm gold fingers. It cast the gentlest web of shadows over his eyes, his face, blurring him into an outline, and Stephen found he was unable to look away from the indistinct shining shape. Long, slow seconds passed.

MAGIC SCHOOL BUS
"And The Ride Of Their Lives"
(Listen I can't explain this without spoiling it. But I loved it - I loved the idea and the twist and the kids and the ending and even the endnotes. Maybe read the endnotes first to see if there's something you need to be warned for? I really enjoyed reading without knowing what was going on, but I can see how others might want a warning. BUT THIS IS REALLY INVENTIVE AND I WAS RIVETED)

Maybe it's louder than most nights, maybe Wanda's more wound-up than usual, but it's nothing new.

Until she punches the wall, so hard her fist goes right in.

MIGHTY DUCKS
wild and wired
(The college friends-with-benefits story we all deserve. I love Charlie and Jesse, and all the Ducks who pop in and out, and all the hockey content made me nostalgic af.)

“He didn’t stay for post-sex cuddling,” Charlie says. It’s a half-truth, maybe. They’d fallen asleep for a couple of hours. But he’s a ninety-six percent sure there’d been no cuddling; all he remembers of after is the slight panic in his chest when he’d woken up in bed alone to the sight of Jesse getting dressed. He doesn’t want to ponder about it too hard in case he starts thinking of during.

“No way,” Guy croons, sitting on the edge of his chair. "Tell me you didn’t dine and ditch. Damn, Hall, who raised you?”

homeland
(Man, Charlie's bitterness about the end of his professional hockey dreams and about Adam leaving college [read: leaving Charlie] early for the NHL was compelling and sad and frustrating in the best possible way, the kind when you know you're ridiculously invested. Also the setting really evoked Minneapolis and the characters go to the real-life punk-rock vegan diner that I still have dreams about and it was delightful.)

“Well, look at the bright side,” he says. “As long as Columbus keeps you around, you won’t have to worry about making it through the playoffs.”

Pausing with his own beer halfway to his mouth, Adam frowns and sets the glass down again. “So are you in a bad mood tonight, or are you just disappointed to see me?”

MY ENGINEER
Lean Into Love
(There are few things in this world I love more than sick fic, and I loved this outsider POV of Ram and King's relationship while Ram quietly takes care of King and bullies him into staying hydrated. King saying they could bring the dogs over was Peak Romance.)

"This tastes so bad," he said, "but my throat already feels better. Don't tell Ram." Ruj smiled but didn't say anything. He couldn't keep a secret from Ram to save his life and King knew it. Ram came back into the room, cup of tea in hand and moved over to King. "Ram, I don't need that! You've got me drinking so much, I'm drowning!" Ram ignored King's protests and put the cup of tea next to the glass.

"It's necessary," Ram said quietly and King flopped back with a sigh.

THE PRINCESS BRIDE
Life's Little Quirks
(Inconceivable! What a delightful take on post-canon -- this is an idea I've never considered before, and I don't want to spoil, but is pitch-perfect for the tone of the film and the futures of the characters, and I loved the original characters as well. The last line is pure joy.)

Buttercup snuggled back down onto his shoulder. But after another brief moment she lifted her head again and looked at him quizzically. "Did you kill many people, darling?"

Westley didn't speak for a long moment, and he didn't open his eyes. "Beloved, my only purpose in everything I've done since the Revenge first overtook me has been to get back to you," he finally said. "Best not to think about most of it more deeply than that."

THE PROPOSAL
Raise Up Cups of Christmas Cheer
(The assistant competence from Andrew here is staggering, so delightful, and MY GOD is this snappy and funny! I had such a hard time picking a bit to quote - it's all so, so good. Margaret as a demure shark with a cranberry spritzer! Sure, she was a monster, but she was the best monster!)

“Why are you dressed like you’re going to a kegger?”

Why are you dressed like you’re going to court to testify about the string of suspiciously dead husbands you’ve left in your wake, Andrew thought but did not say aloud.

SAVING FACE
love is more than telling me
(If they get a cat, Vivian promises she won't love it more than Wil! I love the interplay between them here -- it's just like the movie, funny and matter-of-fact and romantic. Melon the cat! The Jay shovel talk! The proposal!! It's all so perfect.)

"You sound like my dad."

"Well, maybe your dad is right sometimes."

Vivian took fifteen seconds to acknowledge that she was probably as close as it was possible for a lesbian to come to dating her father, and then stuffed the thought away to bring up in therapy sometime or preferably repress forever.

SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS
You Have a Match
(Katy and Shang-Chi working together on Shang-Chi's Tinder profile as she absolutely roasts him is just glorious - the friendship content I needed this Yuletide. You will never understand the female gaze, Shaun!!)

She flipped open his camera roll and scrolled, then gasped. “Avenging photos! We’ve got to use them!”

His eyes widened. “No. Wong would kill us. And some of that is, like, probably completely classified.”

Katy pouted, holding up his phone to reveal a selfie the two of them had taken in the Sanctum Sanctorum, both of their mouths open wide in glee or awe or both. “But this one is so cute.”

heading for something (somewhere i've never been
(Shang-Chi and the relief of coming home and being unwatched was just ... a lot, this fic was A LOT. I loved that this touched on the Snap and everyone coming back five years later, and how traumatic it must have been for the survivors; I loved Shang-Chi diving straight for the Chens as soon as the Snap happens and not wanting to leave for as long as he can protect them; I loved the romance between Shang-Chi and Katy, what an epic friends to lovers arc.)

“Come on,” Katy says. “This is too much. Let’s go back to yours.”

He knows she’s looking out for him. Even after all these years, he likes to keep his back to the wall, especially in a tinderbox of a crowd like this. She may not know why he has hairtrigger reflexes, but she might be able to guess; and though her guesses would be wrong – immortal warlord trains child to be world-class assassin is unlikely to figure on her shortlist – she wouldn’t be wrong.

SINGIN' IN THE RAIN
If I Ever Dared
(Cosmo hasn't had to be around Don without kissing him since he was 12 and now he needs to remember how. The Cosmo-narrator voice here is so good and broke my heart! Don is such an oblivious blockhead, bless him ['Don is smart but not fast like Cosmo,' WHY IS EVERY BIT OF CHARACTERIZATION IN THIS FIC SUCH A BEAUTIFUL KNIFE], and Kathy is the holder of the brain cell, I love them all and they love each other.)

Cosmo felt himself blush and gave an embarrassed wiggle. “That’s. Um. Thank you.”

“Don’t fall down,” Kathy warned him, which showed she knew him too well. He had been considering pretending to faint, just to break the ice. “And Don is in love with you, aren’t you, Don?”

SINS OF THE CITIES SERIES - K.J. CHARLES
Fortunate
(I was in love from the first screaming row between Justin and a foul-mouthed baby Sukey. I've been asking for this fic for Yuletide for several years and the fact that someone else was lovely enough to also ask for it means I now get to pretend this absolutely brilliant fic is a bonus gift for me too - it certainly felt like one. Justin's love for both Emma and Sukey and his frustration; Sukey's rage as she tries to make the adjustment to this new life; Nathaniel trying to convince himself to read his book so he's not eavesdropping on the three of them... God, it's so good. Justin's tenderness for the girls made Nathaniel's heart squeeze, AND MINE TOO)

The next morning over toast and bacon – the whole Lazarus family had an obsession with bacon – Sukey said, without looking at Nathaniel, “’Pologize for calling you names, Mr. Roy.”

He glanced at Justin, who looked bemused. “Apology accepted. Did Justin put you up to this?”

“Good God no,” Justin said through a mouthful of salted pork. “If I thought some insults could put you off we’d never have made through the second séance.”

SPIDER-MAN COMICS
Fire in the Cold
(The quote below is only one of so, so many lines that made me laugh out loud. THERE'S ONLY ONE BED IN THIS BEAUTIFUL WINTER CABIN WHILE YOU'RE PRETENDING TO BE DATING, OH NO. *___* But this fic also hurt me - Peter having to forgive the rest of the family for having gone into space without Johnny, because Johnny wants him to! Peter fitting right in!!)

“Let me ask you a question,” he said, smirking. “When’s the last time you went on a real actual vacation?”

Peter had to think about it. Hard.

“Are we counting when the Bugle sent me to Latveria that one summer?” he said.

“Does Jonah actually spring for economy seats or does he just pack you in a box and poke some airholes in it?” Johnny retorted.

SUNGKYUNKWAN SCANDAL
Come Back Home
(The Jalgeum Quartet attend dinner at Yoon Hee's home, with her family. I love this so much!! I was always sad that we didn't get a closing scene in the drama with the four of them together again, and that there was no closure with her family, so this soothed so much old sadness for me. The character voices and Yong Ha's narrator-insights are all absolutely delightful.)

“I do not behave that way with Yoon Hee,” Sun Joon had protested.

“Mm, if you say so,” Yong Ha had said. Personally, he thought Sun Joon’s overactive jealousy was unwarranted; Yoon Hee hadn’t even realized she was giving Sun Joon a romantic crisis until he had flat out told her, and Yong Ha was fairly certain she still didn’t know about Jae Shin’s helpless adoration. Ah, to be a young, brilliant woman with such handsome men ready to throw themselves at her feet.