The Rec Center #364
Happy holidays everyone! We’re here with a recs-only newsletter this week, sharing some of the (many, many) winter and holiday-themed fanfics that readers submitted over the past couple of weeks. — Gav
fanfiction + fanart
Stranger Things fanart by bpillustrated
When we first put out a call for wintry/holiday fics about a month ago, we got exactly two lol. When we did it again last week, we got nearly three dozen!! 😭 So too many for a single list—I’ve pulled ten here for what’s hopefully a nicely varied selection, and we’ll save the rest for next December. Thank you so much to everyone who sent in a rec. <3 — Elizabeth
“but the nights are better (out here)” by auburn. 7.2K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis; Ships: Rodney McKay/John Sheppard, Teyla Emmagan/Kanaan, Ronon Dex/OFC
Recced by: elainasaunt
Backstory: Having fled a threat in Atlantis, the Stargate team has reached the far edge of the Pegasus galaxy and settled in a remote outpost on a planet with a roughly 19th C level of civilization and very long winters. First fic of a 7-part series.
Rec: Acquaintance with the fandom—wormhole space travel, John Sheppard’s affinity with tech left by the galaxy’s long-gone Ancients, Rodney McKay’s engineering genius—is useful but not necessary to appreciate the quasi Nordic atmosphere of this midwinter festival tale. The vivid descriptions of the nightlong bell fest itself are like so many Kay Nielsen illustrations in words.
Content warnings: N/A
“Gonna Shine Invincible” by Vera Dragonmuse. 3.3K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Our Flag Means Death; Ship: Gen
Recced by: Heidi8
Backstory: One of dozens of standalone stories in Vera’s drag queens modern AU; Roach is Jewish, and tells the story of the holiday in the way only he can.
Rec: Even if you’re not familiar with this creative and layered AU verse, or the story of Chanukah, it’s charming and funny to see the holiday from Roach’s perspective.
Content warnings: N/A
“...and a partridge in a pear tree” by strangehunger. 20K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Gideon the Ninth - Tamsyn Muir; Ship: Gideon Nav/Harrowhark Nonagesimus
Recced by: Nineteen Adze
Backstory: This delightful Locked Tomb AU places all the grim necromancers and cavaliers as workers in a crappy little mall. Everyone’s alive, it’s time for Secret Santa, and Gideon just drew Harrow’s name.
Rec: The slow-build romance of trying to pick a Secret Santa gift for someone you claim to hate is charming, especially with all the sidebars for advice from other characters, but the AU character choices really make it for me. Translating dark necromancer Harrowhark into a Hot Topic employee is among my favorite fanfic choices of all time.
Content warnings: N/A
“A Lucky Snow First Falling” by Betty. 6.2K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Mo Dao Zu Shi / The Untamed; Ship: Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian
Recced by: petirrojo57
Backstory: A modern AU set in Western Canada, university students from the Chinese Students Assoc. go ice skating, providing a backdrop to Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian clarifying their relationship.
Rec: The setting in a very cold province and the details of the ice skating venue make me think about the crazy things of my youth and how there are many delightful ways to warm each other up after a chilly outing.
Content warnings: N/A
“Keeping Up Appearances During the Holidays” by Tassos. 3K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: Leverage; Ship: Parker/Hardison
Recced by: Summerfly
Backstory: Parker wants to go to the FBI Christmas party.
Rec: A great chance to revisit other characters the Leverage team have met along the way. Short, sweet and so perfectly them.
Content warnings: N/A
“Warms The Coldest Night” by cuttooth. 11K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: The Magnus Archives (Podcast); Ships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan Sims, Sasha James/Tim Stoker (background)
Recced by: pinehutch
Backstory: It’s the shortest day of the year, and the holiday party for The Magnus Institute is scheduled for that night. There is mistletoe hanging in the doorway to the Archives when Jon gets in.
Rec: In the notes to this fic the author says it’s partially inspired by Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather and that sense of a holiday that sits behind Christmas, of something old and strange is woven into every word of Warms The Coldest Night. A fic to read on the longest night, waiting for the sun to come back.
Content warnings: Sex pollen
“Hockey, Peace, and Latke Grease” by ricekrispyjoints. 9.6K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: Check, Please!; Ship: Gen
Recced by: Sarah
Backstory: The Haus is the home of the Samwell College ice hockey team, and Holster is the co-captain of the team, and a proud Jewish man who just wants to share his holiday with his team.
Rec: The story is set during the 8 days of Hanukkah as seen through the eyes of a Jewish character, written by a Jewish author. Explanations of some Hanukkah customs alongside some glorious college nonsense.
Content warnings: N/A
“make your own fun” by Sixthlight. 1.5K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: The Old Guard; Ship: Joe/Nicky
Recced by: Miera
Backstory: Joe and Nicky are immortal lovers in canon. In this modern AU they are coworkers and fellow Christmas avoiders.
Rec: Lovely and absolutely relatable for anyone dealing with compulsory Christmas cheer.
Content warnings: N/A
Since we got two recs for this fic, we’ve combined them:
“Do Our Gay Ballet on Ice” by makesomelove. 8K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: IT (Movies - Muschietti); Ships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Recced by: alby and hownowredclown
Backstory: alby writes: This is an alternate no-clown universe where Eddie and Richie are meeting for the first time as adults.
hownowredclown writes: This is an alternate universe fanfiction, so all you need to know about canon beforehand is Eddie Kaspbrak is unhappily married, queer-coded and has had many fake diagnoses from his fucked-up childhood that he is trying to confront.
Rec: alby writes: This is my go-to comfort fic in this fandom, I love the humour and characterisations, and Eddie’s impression of Richie going from a remote idealisation to a gradual dispelling of the idea of Richie to the actual person he is. A really fun and sweet read and I adore it.
hownowredclown writes: It’s about love and skating and catching up to where you should be in life, and by one of the fandom’s best authors. Also it’s tagged as AU-Canada, so legally I have to stan.
Content warnings: Mentions of canon-typical past abuse and bullying, current internalized homophobia, anxiety and generalized shame
...aaaand a comic!
“Snowy Nights” by YamBits. 9 chapters, rated Teen (Part 1) and Mature (Part 2).
Fandom: Lord of the Rings; Ships: Frodo Baggins/Sam Gamgee
Recced by: Mary
Backstory: Sam stays over at Bag End when it snows.
Rec: This friends to lovers pre-quest fic comic is just very soft and sweet. Hits the right spot if you’re finding the holidays tough.
Content warnings: N/A
FINAL THOUGHT
Just a reminder as Yuletide fic comes out: in January we’ll be doing our annual Yuletide rec lists, so please send us your favorites. It’s totally OK to send them over before authors are revealed—we’ll add those in once they’re up. Please use our one-off submission form, and include “Yuletide 2022” in the tropes/themes field. — Elizabeth