elanya

Yuletide Recs 2016!
I wanted to get these to before reveals, so just a few. I've read and enjoyed a lot of stuff this year, and there is still much to get through. I'm sure I'm forgetting things I wanted to rec as well - I *started* keeping a list but I did not continue with it :(

So - gift first!
I received a lovely Pokémon Go fic, which created really cool context for the Go program, developed the trainers and their relationship(s), and then added in a sinister plot by Team Rocket!

I was really thrilled by all of it too - the worldbuilding hit a lot of my buttons with its academic context, it's endgame poly with Blanche PoV, it has some good tension with the plotty bit.

I Didn't Sign Up For This Mess (19679 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 6/6
Fandom: Pokemon GO
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Everybody's hot for Professor Willow, Blanche/Candela/Spark (Pokemon)
Characters: Candela (Pokemon), Blanche (Pokemon), Spark (Pokemon), Dr. Willow | Professor Willow
Additional Tags: Fem!Blanche, Blanche using feminine (she/her) pronouns, Everyone is bi/pansexual and nothing hurts, Team Leaders sassing each other, daddy willow, tw: undereating/poor health choices, tw: calorie tracking, tw: character suspected of maybe having an eating disorder (but not actually having one), grad school, Polyamory, f/f/m, explicit makeouts but not quite sex
Summary:

The GO program is, at its heart, one academic's pet project to protect Pokémon and give the finger to Team Rocket. Blanche, Candela and Spark are its star pupils.

Blanche never, ever expected it to involve FEELINGS, dammit!

As the school year carries on, Blanche is forced to confront her growing affections for both of her fellow leaders, as well as the growing threat of Team Rocket endangering all of their dreams.

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And now, other recs!

Pay me Baby, Treat me Right. (1803 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Ea-nasir Tablet RPF
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Ea-nasir/Nanni
Characters: Ea-nasir (Ea-nasir Tablet RPF), Nanni (Ea-nasir Tablet RPF)
Additional Tags: Yuletide Treat, Ancient Sumerian Customer Complaints
Summary:

After continued correspondence fails to resolve his customer service complaint, Nanni decides to take a more direct approach.

-I love how this ends, and the smugness of Ea-Nasir throughout :D

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L'Abécédaire d'un duel (7002 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Duel after a Masquerade Ball - Jean-Léon Gérôme (painting)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Summary:

Critic Edmond About suggested, "At forty years old, before one steps on the dueling ground, one might forget to make his will, to write to his wife, or to provide for his son's future, but one doesn't forget to put on real pants."

But About forgets the history that takes an affair from a general insult to blighted honour. Each participant, from beginning to end, lends his past to the careering force of history.

-This is just very good, and very carefully plotted, blending personal and political perspectives with multiple points of view beautifully. Found it off another rec post but it deserves the love!

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Bobbing for Evil (1510 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Chopped (US), Cutthroat Kitchen RPF
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Simon Majumdar, Alton Brown, Geoffrey Zakarian, Bob
Additional Tags: Occult, Rituals, Magic, Silly, Crack, Hot Pockets, Shame, also a corgi, alton is evil, no like really evil, POV First Person, bob abuse, Confinement
Summary:

Sugar and spice and everything nice... That's not what Bobs are made of.

-This is just fun, in a dark humour kind of way! And I got to beta it! I feel like it hasn't gotten quite the love it deserves :D

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The Ordinary Operations of Nature (4877 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 19th Century Paleontologist RPF, Palaeontologist RPF, 19th Century Palaeontologist RPF, 19th Century CE RPF
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Mary Anning, Charles Lyell
Additional Tags: Epistolary, cosmic horror, Lovecraftian, Fossils, Science, Unreliable Narrator, 19th Century, Paleontology RPF - Freeform, Biblical References
Summary:

Dear Sir:
I write with the sincere purpose of speaking with Yourself as such a Natural Philosopher for whom my work might hold some Interest. I have enclosed with this letter a set of Curious Stones from the great cliffs near my home in Lyme Regis ...

Mary Anning writes to Charles Lyell.

-Another one I found via recs - but it may be my favourite serious lovecraftian fic from this year. I love how it plays off the danger of eldrich unknowns versus the pain of trying to gain recognition as a woman in 19th science.

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Pounded by Cthulhu's Lost Butt-tacle (3867 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Tingleverse - Chuck Tingle, Cthulhu Mythos - H. P. Lovecraft
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: OMC/Original Male Butt-tacle
Characters: Original Characters
Additional Tags: Crack, Crossover, Humor, Parody, Anal Sex, Yuletide Treat
Summary:

While on vacation in a small, sea-side town in New England, Alex stumbles upon a group of cultists trying to summon a Great Old Butt from the far reaches of R’lyeh. However, what appears instead is a sentient butt-tentacle named Churto, whom Alex helps to escape. On the run from the cultists, Churto and Alex must seek guidance from the Goat of a Thousand Butts in order to return Churto to his rightful place as a butt-tacle on the glorious, fearsome butt of Cthulhu.

This erotic fanfic is a whole lot of words of cosmic horrors, sizzling sentient butt-tacle on human action, and H.P. Lovecraft’s greatest fear: the Welsh.

-Tingleverse + mythos, a beautiful combination. It's hilarious and great!

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On the relative importance of hats, horses, and trust among new partners in criminal enterprise (3208 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Gentlemen of the Road - Michael Chabon
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Amram (Gentlemen of the Road), Zelikman (Gentlemen of the Road)
Additional Tags: Pre-Canon, Bickering, Canon Character of Color, Canon Jewish Character
Summary:

Zelikman has a bad habit of becoming attached to things that can be killed, lost, or stolen.

-This just felt like the perfect caper to set up a lot of things we see in canon! The voices and characters are great.

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Northern Lights (2558 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Alice Isn't Dead (Podcast)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: The Narrator/Alice (Alice Isn't Dead)
Characters: The Narrator (Alice Isn't Dead), Original Female Character(s)
Additional Tags: Canada, Winter, Cold Weather, Truckers, Creepy, Misses Clause Challenge
Summary:

I drive for a long time, past places with names like Harmony Beach and Pancake Bay and Jones Harbour-with-a-u. Near Pancake Bay there's a chicken shack and I stop there for lunch, even though what I really want is pancakes. There are a lot of bays here (not a lot of creeks) because most of the time I'm driving along the curve of the lake. You think of a lake and you picture something like a pond, a little thing you can see to the other side of, but this is different. It's so big, like an ocean confined within a country, an ocean that wants to break free. I couldn't possibly see what's on the other side, even if it wasn't starting to snow.

-Another one I had the privilege to beta-read. It gets the voice of the podcast perfect, and the description is beautifully evocative.

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PKMN Journal: Spark (2425 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 10/10
Fandom: Pokemon GO
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Blanche & Spark (Pokemon), Candela & Spark (Pokemon), Blanche & Candela & Spark (Pokemon)
Characters: Spark (Pokemon), Candela (Pokemon), Blanche (Pokemon), Dr. Willow | Professor Willow
Series: Part 1 of PKMN Journals
Summary:

PKMN 6060 — Field Research Assistantship (Required)

PKMN 6061, 6062 — Field Research Assistantship (Optional)

As part of your research assistantship, you may claim up to three full course credits using the course codes above.

PKMN 6060 is a mandatory pass/fail course based on the completion of field work and the maintenance of a blog highlighting your research.

Blog entries should be made at a minimum of once per week over the length of your assistantship, detailing your experiences over the course of your research. Entries may be candid, and in any format, so long as they show insight into your findings and the research process.

PKMN 6061 and 6062 are intended for research assistants who wish to create a major research project based around their findings. Students will be expected to create high level findings based on their field research and, if appropriate, that of their peers. May be counted towards dissertation.

-Spark's class journal! I love the voice in it, and the things he writes about. There are also shorter journals for Blanche and Candela in Madness :)

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This fic wasn't shareable, so I'm not sure if it is visible if you're not logged in?

But Candy is another adorable Pokémon Go fic about what happens to transferred pokémon. It's really sweet! (6344 words)
Summary: When Eevee is transferred to the Professor, she is certain that she’s about to be chopped up for candy. Instead, she might just have found her forever home.

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A country with no mirrors (3601 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 昭和元禄落語心中 | Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu (Anime)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Yuurakutei Sukeroku/Kikuhiko | Yuurakutei Yakumo
Characters: Yuurakutei Sukeroku, Kikuhiko | Yuurakutei Yakumo
Additional Tags: Intercrural Sex, intertextual everything
Summary:

There's a challenge in Sukeroku's eyes. Kikuhiko doesn't know why he bothers to rise to it.

-I don't actually know this canon, but I got to beta the fic and was super impressed with it. I thought the characters and their relationship were really well conveyed here despite not having prior familiarity, and it's nicely layered. Plus I know the author did a lot of behind-the-scenes word with translations and such to make it work, so all the more impressive!