Yuletide Recs
Dec. 30th, 2017 01:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sunlit_stoneRecs for the Vorkosigan Saga, Temeraire, Nirvana in Fire, Monstrous Regiment, Hot Fuzz, Jeeves & Wooster and Asimov's Robot Series below the cut.
Vorkosigan Saga
I received two lovely gifts for this fandom:
Every Human Love: Cordelia/Jole. Cordelia celebrates Oliver's 51st birthday by inviting him to the Orb with her. ~3K, explicit. A lovely little piece, with a great Cordelia voice, sweet Cordelia/Jole interactions, and a suprise Lady Alys cameo.
Three's Company: Gen, Miles & Piotr, a little Miles & Illyan. Count Piotr is never permitted to be alone with Miles. ~2.5K, G. A really really perfect Piotr voice, especially re: Miles. Fits perfectly into the development of their relationship between the end of Barrayar and the beginning of Warrior's Apprentice, that we never quite get to see but hear about in Miles' reflections on his grandfather.
Temeraire
Forget and Forgive: Gen, Laurence & Tharkay. Tharkay and Arkady avoid being captured on their way to deliver the crucial message regarding Napoleon's imminent invasion of Russia.
Then Tharkay encounters a Captain Laurence still bereft of his memory. ~2.6K, G. Some fun Tharkay & Arkady interaction, too, but mostly I enjoy the tension in Laurence between the person he's become and the person he thinks he is, not remembering the journey that brought him here.
Nirvana in Fire
All That You Need to Say: MCS/JY. When Mei Changsu suggests that they should abandon an officer of the Chiyan Army because it is the strategically smart thing to do, Jingyan is ready to cut all ties with his strategist--until Lin Chen arrives with a message from Langya Hall: Mei Changsu's illness can be cured, but only through great risk and sacrifice.
Jingyan chooses to take that risk, because it is what a man of honor would do for a friend in need. ~15K, explicit. Time travel! Happy ending! Even more identity porn than I would have heretofore thought possible! (It's at least...four layers deep. I think.) And, as the tags note, there's regular porn too. Absolutely worth checking out.
Monstrous Regiment
These are both basically the fics I really wanted to have read upon finishing Monstrous Regiment for the first time.
Baker, Beekeeper, Sergeant, Spy: Some Polly/Mal, background Tonker/Lofty. In which Polly trains bodyguards, has dinner with Mal, founds a spy network, and muses on the hierarchy of bees. ~2.9K, T. "No more wars means stopping them before they even begin and that means a lot of work in the shadows, beyond the notice of powerful posturing men." Interesting look at what Polly and the rest might get up to after the war; the mood of the fic as a whole is both quiet and filled with potential. Also contains perfectly Borogravian lines from Froc about the women already in the army.
Unconventional Weapons: Gen, featuring Polly, Mal, Wazzer, Blouse and Jackrum. "There are three things I think we need to win this," Polly said carefully. "Because they worked before, and this time we're a lot smarter." ~3.2K, G.Polly tries to stop the next war. Contains perfect character voices, even for Blouse and Jackrum. It's hard to know exactly how to convey what makes it so great, but I really love this one.
Hot Fuzz
Something Clever: Danny/Nicholas. Danny undergoes a genre shift. ~1.8K, T. Really sweet Danny/Nicholas, all told in Danny's POV with a great Danny-voice and a great last line.
Jeeves and Wooster
And the Christmas Pudding: Jeeves/Bertie, established relationship. The usual Christmas binge goes horribly awry, and Jeeves ends up in the soup. ~12K, explicit. A really adorable established relationship, and hijinks.
The Tie That Binds: Jeeves/Betrie. Aunt Dahlia asks "Who is going to look after you? Who is going to remember your birthday and make sure you’re not alone on Christmas? Don’t you want someone to grow old with?”
And Bertie replies, “Oh, don’t worry about that, aged A! Jeeves will look after me!” ~6.9K, G. Involves a dash of fake relationship, a teensy bit of pining, and a perfect Betrie voice to top it all off.
Robot Series
Positronic relays, surging in the dark: Baley/Daneel. According to the hit sequel hyperwave drama, Robots of Dawn, Gladia Solaria climbed into Elijah Baley's bed for sex one night on Aurora. Baley protested loudly, to anyone who would listen, that it was a lie. Which it was. It certainly wasn't Gladia who'd appeared, uninvited, in his bed that night. ~5K, explicit. Porn, love, and the notion of consent when applied to robots (as well as how to ensure such a thing might even be possible). Very well done.
Vorkosigan Saga
I received two lovely gifts for this fandom:
Every Human Love: Cordelia/Jole. Cordelia celebrates Oliver's 51st birthday by inviting him to the Orb with her. ~3K, explicit. A lovely little piece, with a great Cordelia voice, sweet Cordelia/Jole interactions, and a suprise Lady Alys cameo.
Three's Company: Gen, Miles & Piotr, a little Miles & Illyan. Count Piotr is never permitted to be alone with Miles. ~2.5K, G. A really really perfect Piotr voice, especially re: Miles. Fits perfectly into the development of their relationship between the end of Barrayar and the beginning of Warrior's Apprentice, that we never quite get to see but hear about in Miles' reflections on his grandfather.
Temeraire
Forget and Forgive: Gen, Laurence & Tharkay. Tharkay and Arkady avoid being captured on their way to deliver the crucial message regarding Napoleon's imminent invasion of Russia.
Then Tharkay encounters a Captain Laurence still bereft of his memory. ~2.6K, G. Some fun Tharkay & Arkady interaction, too, but mostly I enjoy the tension in Laurence between the person he's become and the person he thinks he is, not remembering the journey that brought him here.
Nirvana in Fire
All That You Need to Say: MCS/JY. When Mei Changsu suggests that they should abandon an officer of the Chiyan Army because it is the strategically smart thing to do, Jingyan is ready to cut all ties with his strategist--until Lin Chen arrives with a message from Langya Hall: Mei Changsu's illness can be cured, but only through great risk and sacrifice.
Jingyan chooses to take that risk, because it is what a man of honor would do for a friend in need. ~15K, explicit. Time travel! Happy ending! Even more identity porn than I would have heretofore thought possible! (It's at least...four layers deep. I think.) And, as the tags note, there's regular porn too. Absolutely worth checking out.
Monstrous Regiment
These are both basically the fics I really wanted to have read upon finishing Monstrous Regiment for the first time.
Baker, Beekeeper, Sergeant, Spy: Some Polly/Mal, background Tonker/Lofty. In which Polly trains bodyguards, has dinner with Mal, founds a spy network, and muses on the hierarchy of bees. ~2.9K, T. "No more wars means stopping them before they even begin and that means a lot of work in the shadows, beyond the notice of powerful posturing men." Interesting look at what Polly and the rest might get up to after the war; the mood of the fic as a whole is both quiet and filled with potential. Also contains perfectly Borogravian lines from Froc about the women already in the army.
Unconventional Weapons: Gen, featuring Polly, Mal, Wazzer, Blouse and Jackrum. "There are three things I think we need to win this," Polly said carefully. "Because they worked before, and this time we're a lot smarter." ~3.2K, G.Polly tries to stop the next war. Contains perfect character voices, even for Blouse and Jackrum. It's hard to know exactly how to convey what makes it so great, but I really love this one.
Hot Fuzz
Something Clever: Danny/Nicholas. Danny undergoes a genre shift. ~1.8K, T. Really sweet Danny/Nicholas, all told in Danny's POV with a great Danny-voice and a great last line.
Jeeves and Wooster
And the Christmas Pudding: Jeeves/Bertie, established relationship. The usual Christmas binge goes horribly awry, and Jeeves ends up in the soup. ~12K, explicit. A really adorable established relationship, and hijinks.
The Tie That Binds: Jeeves/Betrie. Aunt Dahlia asks "Who is going to look after you? Who is going to remember your birthday and make sure you’re not alone on Christmas? Don’t you want someone to grow old with?”
And Bertie replies, “Oh, don’t worry about that, aged A! Jeeves will look after me!” ~6.9K, G. Involves a dash of fake relationship, a teensy bit of pining, and a perfect Betrie voice to top it all off.
Robot Series
Positronic relays, surging in the dark: Baley/Daneel. According to the hit sequel hyperwave drama, Robots of Dawn, Gladia Solaria climbed into Elijah Baley's bed for sex one night on Aurora. Baley protested loudly, to anyone who would listen, that it was a lie. Which it was. It certainly wasn't Gladia who'd appeared, uninvited, in his bed that night. ~5K, explicit. Porn, love, and the notion of consent when applied to robots (as well as how to ensure such a thing might even be possible). Very well done.
no subject
Date: 2017-12-31 03:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-12-31 02:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-01-03 01:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-01-04 01:27 am (UTC)And it does look like it! Just looking at your interests, I'm also a fan of Harry/Marcone, Kirk/Spock, and of course the Vorkosigan Saga. (I found out about two days ago there's a comic of The Warrior's Apprentice in French--now I'm wondering if I could get it at the local library, because come on, I have to check that out...)