2nd Yuletide Recs Post of 2020

[keerawa]

In the waning moments of 2020, here's one more rec post.

11 stories in 10 fandoms: Hilda the Plus-Size Pinup Girl, Among Us, Galaxy Quest, Spirit (George Roux painting), Hadestown, His Dark Materials, The Mummy, Ghosts, Mercy Thompson, Pawns & Symbols


Don't Need to Know Canon: Hilda the Plus-Size Pinup Girl, Among Us, Galaxy Quest, Spirit (George Roux painting)

Hilda Shelters in Place (2947 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Hilda the Plus-Size Pin-up Series - Duane Bryers
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Hilda (Hilda the Plus-Sized Pin-Up)
Additional Tags: Epistolary, Pandemics, Recipes
Summary:

Welcome to Off the Grid at Chez Hilda, updated every Friday or whenever I feel like it. My artwork is at the Patreon link, and I don't need to remind lovely folks like you to like and subscribe, now do I?

Bookmarker's Notes:

Hilda, my favorite plus-sized pin-up girl, has settled into lockdown along with all of us and is keeping all of her Patreon followers updated with regular, cheery video and blog posts. This story is compassionate, lonely, sad, hopeful, and a perfect ending to 2020.

Wet Work (10199 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Among Us (Video Game)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Crewmate/Impostor (Among Us)
Characters: Crewmate (Among Us), Impostor (Among Us)
Additional Tags: Failboat Impostor, Impostor Yellow (Among Us), Alien Impostor(s) (Among Us), Xeno, Human/Monster Romance, Suicidal Thoughts, Hurt/Comfort, Extremely Alien Biology, Tentacles, Medical Examination, Enthusiastic Consent
Summary:

Yellow was sent here to kill, but he's not exactly doing a very good job of it. Between faking expertise as the ship's electrician, avoiding the suspicion of his peers, and trying not to melt down out of sheer panic, he hasn't managed much in the way of sabotage and murder.

Then one of his crewmates finds out what he really is—and instead of having Yellow killed, White wants to know more. A lot more.

Bookmarker's Notes:

Excellent world-building and delightful alien POV between the alien bioweapon who's not really into this sabotage-and-murder gig and his friend, the ship's doctor. Sweet and hot!

To Hollywood and Beyond (8425 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Galaxy Quest (1999)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Jason Nesmith, Gwen DeMarco, Tommy Webber, Alexander Dane, Fred Kwan, Laliari (Galaxy Quest), Guy Fleegman, Mathesar (Galaxy Quest)
Additional Tags: Metafiction
Summary:

A fan wins a walk-on role for the latest Galaxy Quest film.

Bookmarker's Notes:

Beautifully meta as a fanfic writer wins a charity raffle, gets to spend a day on the set of the next GalaxyQuest film shoot, and gets abducted by some very nice, earnest, tentacled aliens. Her knowledge of fandom tropes saves the day!

Alexander Versus Fandom (9700 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 2/2
Fandom: Galaxy Quest (1999)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Alexander Dane, Gwen DeMarco, Jason Nesmith, Fred Kwan, Tommy Webber
Additional Tags: Fandom history
Summary:

Five fan interactions that flopped and one that got a curtain call.

Bookmarker's Notes:

A joyously meta love-letter to fandom written from the POV of poor Alexander Dane, who took his prosthetic headpiece out to a dumpster after filming the season finale, lit it on fire, and thought he was done with Galaxy Quest forever. Check out the images for perfect screencaps of how fandom tech has evolved over the years. So much fun!

The Strike of Eight (3406 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Spirit - George Roux (Painting 1885)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Ghost, Man - Character, Man's friend
Additional Tags: old style prose, Purple Prose, ghost story, Horror, POV First Person, fleeting depictions of violence
Summary:

The woman appears every night for the same music, the same motions and to the same end. She may not intend the torment she inflicts, but there are few who would be able to withstand it forever.

Bookmarker's Notes:

Evocative descriptions, excellent period-appropriate character voice, and a ghost story to chill the blood.

Need to Know Canon: Hadestown, His Dark Materials, The Mummy, Ghosts, Mercy Thompson, Pawns & Symbols

East of the Sun, West of the Moon (5216 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Hadestown - Mitchell
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Hades/Persephone (Hadestown), Eurydice/Orpheus (Hadestown)
Characters: Persephone (Hadestown), Hades (Hadestown), Eurydice (Hadestown), Orpheus (Hadestown)
Additional Tags: Future Fic, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Retelling
Summary:

A tidelocked planet, a deadlocked marriage, and an old song looking for a new beginning.

Bookmarker's Notes:

It's always the same blue, the sun forever hovering eighty degrees above the horizon. There's no way to tell the time, and yet, Persephone feels hers running out.
Lyrical, beautiful, and as full of emotional highs and lows as the original.

Of No Mean Endeavour, and Not a Little Altered (14671 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Mary Malone/Atal
Characters: Mary Malone, Mary Malone's Daemon, Atal (HDM), Will Parry, Elaine Parry
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Interspecies Relationship(s), Interspecies Romance, POV Multiple, Bittersweet, During Canon, Non-Linear Narrative, Bechdel Test Pass, Falling In Love, Daemons
Summary:

The day the zalif Atal first saw the stranger Mary Malone was a day much like any day in the past three hundred years.

Slices of the time spent together and the time that followed.

Bookmarker's Notes:

Rich, imaginative, full of the wonder of exploring another world, another person, and deeply satisfying.

The Gift of the Med-jai (3383 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Mummy (1999), The Mummy Series
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Evy Carnahan O'Connell/Rick O'Connell (background)
Characters: Evy Carnahan O'Connell, Rick O'Connell, Jonathan Carnahan, Ardeth Bay
Additional Tags: mixed feels about christmas and other winter holidays, Eavesdropping, Friendship, Banter, mention of past canon character deaths, ardeth needs more friends, took a few liberties with unclear canon, Happy Ending
Summary:

Lesser-known in Christmas tales is the story of the one wise man, who showed up a few days early, bearing a gift. Set about one year after the events of The Mummy.

Bookmarker's Notes:

Charming and delightfully in-character, with Ardeth like a ghost in his own city, Evie in a froth, and Rick and Jonathan trying to figure out what all the fuss is about. Also, I appreciate that Rick now checks with Evie before reading so much as a newspaper out loud!

The Ballad of Sweet William and the Ghost (10123 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 6/6
Fandom: Ghosts (TV 2019)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Relationships: The Captain/Lieutenant Havers (Ghosts TV 2019)
Characters: The Captain (Ghosts TV 2019), Lieutenant Havers (Ghosts TV 2019), Robin (Ghosts TV 2019), Humphrey's Head (Ghosts TV 2019), Mary (Ghosts TV 2019), Kitty (Ghosts TV 2019), Thomas Thorne, Lady Fanny Button, Pat (Ghosts TV 2019), Original Characters, Julian Fawcett
Additional Tags: 1990s, Backstory, Pre-Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canonical Character Death, Period Typical Attitudes, Sex Work, References to Drugs, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Internalized Homophobia, Sexism, Oral Sex, Dream Sex, Queer History
Summary:

In 1994, Havers returns to Button House. It turns out to be a rather fateful weekend.

Bookmarker's Notes:

Perfect character-voices, wonderfully researched WWII history for the Captain, Button House, and what it was like to be queer in that era. This story gave me all kinds of feelings, emotional ups and downs, and the occasional flat-spin.

battle-hardened (3454 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Mercy Thompson Series - Patricia Briggs
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Kyle Brooks/Warren Smith
Characters: Warren Smith, Kyle Brooks, Darryl Zao, Adam Hauptman
Additional Tags: Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Werewolf Politics, Yuletide Treat
Summary:

It was one of the first rules of living as a lone wolf: it never hurt to be underestimated.

Bookmarker's Notes:

A fantastic piece showing us Warren, pragmatic, clever, and determined to survive. Excellent insights into Adam, Darren, and pack dynamics, with a magnificent appearance by Kyle.

i have begun to ask for you (i who have no need) (2922 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Trek - Various Authors, Pawns & Symbols - Majliss Larson
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Jean Czerny/Tirax
Characters: Jean Czerny, Tirax (Star Trek)
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Amnesia, Rescue, Arguing, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Unresolved Emotional Tension, Yuletide Treat
Summary:

"Then go find some wares more to your taste," the crewman spat, "and get out of our way."

"No," the Klingon said, and then—then, at last, his eyes did flicker to her after all. To her, and no one else; he didn't have to search the faces of the other slaves to find hers, wasn't looking them over and singling her out as the best-suited to his needs. It was as if he'd known she'd be there, as if he'd seen her the moment the turbolift doors had opened and tracked her every motion since, but only now was willing to give away that he had.

Bookmarker's Notes:

Intense, amnesia-trope, enemies-to-nope, still enemies with Czerny captured by Orion slavers and poor Tirax tasked to retrieve her from them.