yuletide recs
Dec. 26th, 2024 08:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nerakroseI had a lovely Christmas Eve with my family, and then yesterday and today I've spent my time reading Yuletide fic, re-watching all Ocean's movies, and writing fic. I'd hoped I'd be able to post a new chapter of my ongoing Afdeling Q wip before Christmas, but what with the move and my Yuletide commitments that wasn't possible. I'm now aiming to post a new chapter by the 28th, as last time I updated was 28th november and I was a bit surprised to discover it's almost been a month.
anyway, Yuletide recs! starting with my gift, a lovely selection of moments of Danny/Rusty (with background poly), including Tess and Rusty getting along, and an appearance from Debbie - and the reason why I decided to rewatch the Ocean's movies:
ain't that a kick in the head (2010 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Ocean's Eleven Trilogy (Movies)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Danny Ocean/Rusty Ryan, Danny Ocean/Tess Ocean
Characters: Danny Ocean, Rusty Ryan, Tess Ocean
Additional Tags: Pre-Canon, Background Poly
Summary: danny ocean, 11 moments
before I go into the rest of the Yuletide recs I also want to give a shout to this gift fic:
The Laws of Thermodynamics (5163 words) by berlincorpography
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Ocean's Eleven Trilogy (Movies)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Danny Ocean/Rusty Ryan, Danny Ocean/Tess Ocean, Tess Ocean & Rusty Ryan
Characters: Rusty Ryan, Danny Ocean, Tess Ocean
Additional Tags: Pre-Canon, Polyamory, a story mostly about how tess and rusty should unionise
Summary: The three laws of thermodynamics, as described in American Scientist, March 1964:
First law: You can’t win, you can only break even.
Second law: You can only break even at absolute zero.
Third law: You can’t reach absolute zero.
I got the gift notification for this in November and instantly thought 'aw hell, somebody messed up their Yuletide posting didn't they? I will pretend I didn't see it. but lemme click through real fast and read it before they realise their mistake...' and it turned out it wasn't a Yuletide mess up, but it was in fact Yuletide related: berlincorpography wrote my Danny/Rusty Yuletide gift last year. this was the fic they initially wrote, realised it was maybe veering too close to my DNWs and pivoted to write something else, but then finished this up anyway and gifted me anyway, and I am delighted!! It does not in fact veer too close to any of my DNWs and I love it very much.
More Yuletide recs under these cuts!
cause i'm awake (all night long) (3420 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Ocean's 8 (2018)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Lou Miller/Debbie Ocean
Characters: Lou Miller (Ocean's), Debbie Ocean, Tammy (Ocean's), Amita (Ocean's)
Additional Tags: 5+1 Things, Pre-Canon, Post-Canon, terrible sleeping habits
Summary: Five times Debbie slept somewhere she shouldn't have, and one time she finally went to bed
lovely :) fun appearance by Danny as well - like brother like sister. love Lou and Debbie's relationship here.
another song for California (1676 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Ocean's Eleven Trilogy (Movies)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Danny Ocean & Rusty Ryan
Characters: Danny Ocean, Rusty Ryan
Additional Tags: First Meetings, Pre-Canon, Pre-Slash
Summary: Here was how it started: early morning in an Arizona laundromat, dawn just breaking beyond the smudged plate-glass window.
I was sold on the sort of meet cute in the laundromat with Rusty just stripping down to wash his clothes. and then they immediately clock each other and start doing Crime together, wonderful.
only losers fight clean (3869 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Ocean's Eleven Trilogy (Movies)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Danny Ocean/Rusty Ryan, Danny Ocean/Tess Ocean
Characters: Rusty Ryan, Danny Ocean, Tess Ocean, Assorted cameos
Additional Tags: 5+1 Things, Reverse Chronology, Slice of Life, Non-Linear Narrative, Hijinks & Shenanigans, implied polyamory, references to Ocean's 8
Summary: Five times Rusty saw it coming, and once he didn't.
this one is wonderful - Tess and Rusty working out a timeshare for Danny's attention alghjkajdgsfa I love it. I love a good poly set up for them, I love it when Rusty and Tess clearly get along and care for each other and don't just tolerate each other for Danny. perfect.
smoke gets in your eyes (3000 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Ocean's Eleven Trilogy (Movies)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Danny Ocean/Rusty Ryan
Characters: Danny Ocean, Rusty Ryan
Additional Tags: Pre-Canon, Heist, Smoking, Missions Gone Wrong, Near Death Experiences
Summary: Danny honestly didn't know much about Rusty Ryan. At a poker game once he'd heard Rusty tell a guy that he was from Orlando. Danny thought not. Everything about him said California, the Valley. Danny would have bet large sums that his people were Okies, migrants who'd fled the Dust Bowl with the banks at their heels, snapping up their homes and their land. There was something post-apocalyptic about Rusty's angle on the world. Besides, nobody who put that much work into being effortlessly cool could have come from anywhere but California.
I've read many backstory fics for them (and even written one myself) and I enjoy how they're all different and yet seem like they could be real. I like that this one explains Rusty's constant eating with it being a replacement for smoking.
The hawk about to stoop (4288 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Temeraire - Naomi Novik
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: William Laurence/Napoléon I de France | Napoléon Bonaparte
Characters: William Laurence, Napoléon I de France | Napoléon Bonaparte
Additional Tags: Victory of Eagles, Alternate Scene, Napoleon showing canonical levels of interest in Laurence
Summary: An alternate scene for Victory of Eagles. Instead of being shot dead when rescuing Granby from Kensington Palace, Woolvey is only wounded. Laurence stays behind to help him.<
this is delicious. Napoleon's interest in Laurence throughout the books is (imo, and I'm not the only one) borderline homoerotic. this is. delicious. nailed it.
To every wandering bark (1785 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Temeraire - Naomi Novik
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: William Laurence/Tenzing Tharkay
Characters: William Laurence, Tenzing Tharkay
Additional Tags: Laurence is not oblivious
Summary: Laurence first realised that he loved Tharkay aboard the Allegiance – he had looked across the deck to see him in animated discussion with Temeraire over some Chinese folktale, and known that here was a man he could rely on and wish to keep near him, all his days.
pining Laurence!!! love how sweetly they come together in the end.
Pack Clouds Away (1893 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Temeraire - Naomi Novik
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: William Laurence/Tenzing Tharkay
Characters: William Laurence, Tenzing Tharkay
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Tharkay's mysterious estate
Summary: He had got everything he’d ever dared to want, and it felt like a fragile relic in his hands.
Tharkay is definitely not panicking. Laurence has a business proposition.
this is utterly delicious - Laurence practically asking Tharkay to marry him, within the constraints of the law etc. of the times, being terribly polite about it (as is Tharkay), and then!
‘I am prepared to anticipate the wedding.’
how scandalously bold, Laurence <3
Yuletide Madness 2024 treats (2000 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 20/20
Fandom: Temeraire - Naomi Novik
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: William Laurence/Tenzing Tharkay, John Granby/Augustine Little
Characters: William Laurence, Tenzing Tharkay, John Granby (Temeraire), Temeraire (Temeraire), Napoléon I de France | Napoléon Bonaparte, Emily Roland, Jane Roland, Henry Ferris, Forthing (Temeraire), Augustine Little, Kulingile (Temeraire), Catherine Harcourt, Alice Pemberton, Anahuarque (Temeraire)
Additional Tags: Drabble Collection
Summary: You know the drill: you write a Temeraire prompt, you get a drabble!
twenty 100 word drabbles - each of them spot on in tone and character, so that it felt like I was re-reading passages from the book. loved them all.
the following three fics are 2 x Temeraire and 1x Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - I'm grouping them together instead of under their own fandoms, because they are academic takes on canon and I'm both amused an delighted that there are three whole fics in this genre in fandoms I enjoy.
Socially Liberal, Fiscally Draconic: Complicating Narratives of Political Reform in the 19th Century (1352 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Temeraire - Naomi Novik
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Temeraire (Temeraire)
Additional Tags: POV Outsider, In-Universe Document, Modern Era, Temeraire's MP Career, Post-Canon
Summary: Final Paper for HIST-232, 19th Century Europe.
Profile a change agent from between 1790-1910. Describe their influence on their social or political surroundings, and attempt to analyze the limits and drives behind their actions.
Temeraire's career, after the war.
The title was already funny, but then I read it and had to laugh: spot on reading of Temeraire: radical, socially liberal, but indeed fiscally draconic. Temeraire would never vote for something that would diminish his wealth. He enjoys riches too much.
HIST3041 - The Evolution of Dragon-Human Relations: From Hostility to Partnership: Final paper (7468 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Temeraire - Naomi Novik
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: William Laurence, Temeraire (Temeraire)
Additional Tags: biography, Historiography, fictional non-fiction, separating the fictitious citations from the real is left as an exercise to the reader, as is grading, the views of the author do not in fact represent the views of the author
Summary: For your final assessment in HIST3041 you will write an essay of no more than 4,000 words that explores a topic of your choice within the context of dragon-human interactions across history. Your essay should critically analyse how dragon-human relationships have evolved, considering cultural, political, economic, and/or symbolic dimensions. You are encouraged to draw on historical texts, folklore, mythology, literary works, and relevant academic research to support your arguments.
You may address one of the following prompts or one of your own devising, but in that case you should confirm with me that it is suitable before you begin writing:
[...]
f. A comprehensive critical analysis of a historically important human or dragon figure, and their role in shaping the evolution of dragon-human relations.
this was a hilarious read, as it takes the shape of an unfinished paper (with a metanarrative surrounding it of late submission and a perhaps accidentally uploaded the wrong version of the file) with plenty of opinions from the author - who had very clearly imprinted on Laurence as their historical figure blorbo! and shippy. A+ from me. this reads exactly like something I would've drafted. (I tidied mine up before submitting, lol.) don't skip the footnotes.
3.0: Subject content (1061 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Additional Tags: Worldbuilding, Pseudo-History
Summary: Extracts from the subject specification for the UK A-level in Magical History (7081).
Not an academic paper this time, but a course description (one that makes me want to take this course, now). I've recently read JSAMN for the first time so it's very fresh in my mind, and it's fun to see canon laid out as if it's a real historical course, and presenting the events of the book in slightly different ways than what a fan would expect. like the above two fics, this looks at what available texts and historical record there is and goes from there. loved the line with Segundus and magical schools as it's definitely my headcanon that he did go on to teach magic after the events of the book.
I'm still reading, so I hope to be back with more recs later.
anyway, Yuletide recs! starting with my gift, a lovely selection of moments of Danny/Rusty (with background poly), including Tess and Rusty getting along, and an appearance from Debbie - and the reason why I decided to rewatch the Ocean's movies:
ain't that a kick in the head (2010 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Ocean's Eleven Trilogy (Movies)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Danny Ocean/Rusty Ryan, Danny Ocean/Tess Ocean
Characters: Danny Ocean, Rusty Ryan, Tess Ocean
Additional Tags: Pre-Canon, Background Poly
Summary: danny ocean, 11 moments
before I go into the rest of the Yuletide recs I also want to give a shout to this gift fic:
The Laws of Thermodynamics (5163 words) by berlincorpography
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Ocean's Eleven Trilogy (Movies)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Danny Ocean/Rusty Ryan, Danny Ocean/Tess Ocean, Tess Ocean & Rusty Ryan
Characters: Rusty Ryan, Danny Ocean, Tess Ocean
Additional Tags: Pre-Canon, Polyamory, a story mostly about how tess and rusty should unionise
Summary: The three laws of thermodynamics, as described in American Scientist, March 1964:
First law: You can’t win, you can only break even.
Second law: You can only break even at absolute zero.
Third law: You can’t reach absolute zero.
I got the gift notification for this in November and instantly thought 'aw hell, somebody messed up their Yuletide posting didn't they? I will pretend I didn't see it. but lemme click through real fast and read it before they realise their mistake...' and it turned out it wasn't a Yuletide mess up, but it was in fact Yuletide related: berlincorpography wrote my Danny/Rusty Yuletide gift last year. this was the fic they initially wrote, realised it was maybe veering too close to my DNWs and pivoted to write something else, but then finished this up anyway and gifted me anyway, and I am delighted!! It does not in fact veer too close to any of my DNWs and I love it very much.
More Yuletide recs under these cuts!
cause i'm awake (all night long) (3420 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Ocean's 8 (2018)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Lou Miller/Debbie Ocean
Characters: Lou Miller (Ocean's), Debbie Ocean, Tammy (Ocean's), Amita (Ocean's)
Additional Tags: 5+1 Things, Pre-Canon, Post-Canon, terrible sleeping habits
Summary: Five times Debbie slept somewhere she shouldn't have, and one time she finally went to bed
lovely :) fun appearance by Danny as well - like brother like sister. love Lou and Debbie's relationship here.
another song for California (1676 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Ocean's Eleven Trilogy (Movies)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Danny Ocean & Rusty Ryan
Characters: Danny Ocean, Rusty Ryan
Additional Tags: First Meetings, Pre-Canon, Pre-Slash
Summary: Here was how it started: early morning in an Arizona laundromat, dawn just breaking beyond the smudged plate-glass window.
I was sold on the sort of meet cute in the laundromat with Rusty just stripping down to wash his clothes. and then they immediately clock each other and start doing Crime together, wonderful.
only losers fight clean (3869 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Ocean's Eleven Trilogy (Movies)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Danny Ocean/Rusty Ryan, Danny Ocean/Tess Ocean
Characters: Rusty Ryan, Danny Ocean, Tess Ocean, Assorted cameos
Additional Tags: 5+1 Things, Reverse Chronology, Slice of Life, Non-Linear Narrative, Hijinks & Shenanigans, implied polyamory, references to Ocean's 8
Summary: Five times Rusty saw it coming, and once he didn't.
this one is wonderful - Tess and Rusty working out a timeshare for Danny's attention alghjkajdgsfa I love it. I love a good poly set up for them, I love it when Rusty and Tess clearly get along and care for each other and don't just tolerate each other for Danny. perfect.
smoke gets in your eyes (3000 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Ocean's Eleven Trilogy (Movies)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Danny Ocean/Rusty Ryan
Characters: Danny Ocean, Rusty Ryan
Additional Tags: Pre-Canon, Heist, Smoking, Missions Gone Wrong, Near Death Experiences
Summary: Danny honestly didn't know much about Rusty Ryan. At a poker game once he'd heard Rusty tell a guy that he was from Orlando. Danny thought not. Everything about him said California, the Valley. Danny would have bet large sums that his people were Okies, migrants who'd fled the Dust Bowl with the banks at their heels, snapping up their homes and their land. There was something post-apocalyptic about Rusty's angle on the world. Besides, nobody who put that much work into being effortlessly cool could have come from anywhere but California.
I've read many backstory fics for them (and even written one myself) and I enjoy how they're all different and yet seem like they could be real. I like that this one explains Rusty's constant eating with it being a replacement for smoking.
The hawk about to stoop (4288 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Temeraire - Naomi Novik
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: William Laurence/Napoléon I de France | Napoléon Bonaparte
Characters: William Laurence, Napoléon I de France | Napoléon Bonaparte
Additional Tags: Victory of Eagles, Alternate Scene, Napoleon showing canonical levels of interest in Laurence
Summary: An alternate scene for Victory of Eagles. Instead of being shot dead when rescuing Granby from Kensington Palace, Woolvey is only wounded. Laurence stays behind to help him.<
this is delicious. Napoleon's interest in Laurence throughout the books is (imo, and I'm not the only one) borderline homoerotic. this is. delicious. nailed it.
To every wandering bark (1785 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Temeraire - Naomi Novik
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: William Laurence/Tenzing Tharkay
Characters: William Laurence, Tenzing Tharkay
Additional Tags: Laurence is not oblivious
Summary: Laurence first realised that he loved Tharkay aboard the Allegiance – he had looked across the deck to see him in animated discussion with Temeraire over some Chinese folktale, and known that here was a man he could rely on and wish to keep near him, all his days.
pining Laurence!!! love how sweetly they come together in the end.
Pack Clouds Away (1893 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Temeraire - Naomi Novik
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: William Laurence/Tenzing Tharkay
Characters: William Laurence, Tenzing Tharkay
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Tharkay's mysterious estate
Summary: He had got everything he’d ever dared to want, and it felt like a fragile relic in his hands.
Tharkay is definitely not panicking. Laurence has a business proposition.
this is utterly delicious - Laurence practically asking Tharkay to marry him, within the constraints of the law etc. of the times, being terribly polite about it (as is Tharkay), and then!
‘I am prepared to anticipate the wedding.’
how scandalously bold, Laurence <3
Yuletide Madness 2024 treats (2000 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 20/20
Fandom: Temeraire - Naomi Novik
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: William Laurence/Tenzing Tharkay, John Granby/Augustine Little
Characters: William Laurence, Tenzing Tharkay, John Granby (Temeraire), Temeraire (Temeraire), Napoléon I de France | Napoléon Bonaparte, Emily Roland, Jane Roland, Henry Ferris, Forthing (Temeraire), Augustine Little, Kulingile (Temeraire), Catherine Harcourt, Alice Pemberton, Anahuarque (Temeraire)
Additional Tags: Drabble Collection
Summary: You know the drill: you write a Temeraire prompt, you get a drabble!
twenty 100 word drabbles - each of them spot on in tone and character, so that it felt like I was re-reading passages from the book. loved them all.
the following three fics are 2 x Temeraire and 1x Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - I'm grouping them together instead of under their own fandoms, because they are academic takes on canon and I'm both amused an delighted that there are three whole fics in this genre in fandoms I enjoy.
Socially Liberal, Fiscally Draconic: Complicating Narratives of Political Reform in the 19th Century (1352 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Temeraire - Naomi Novik
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Temeraire (Temeraire)
Additional Tags: POV Outsider, In-Universe Document, Modern Era, Temeraire's MP Career, Post-Canon
Summary: Final Paper for HIST-232, 19th Century Europe.
Profile a change agent from between 1790-1910. Describe their influence on their social or political surroundings, and attempt to analyze the limits and drives behind their actions.
Temeraire's career, after the war.
The title was already funny, but then I read it and had to laugh: spot on reading of Temeraire: radical, socially liberal, but indeed fiscally draconic. Temeraire would never vote for something that would diminish his wealth. He enjoys riches too much.
HIST3041 - The Evolution of Dragon-Human Relations: From Hostility to Partnership: Final paper (7468 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Temeraire - Naomi Novik
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: William Laurence, Temeraire (Temeraire)
Additional Tags: biography, Historiography, fictional non-fiction, separating the fictitious citations from the real is left as an exercise to the reader, as is grading, the views of the author do not in fact represent the views of the author
Summary: For your final assessment in HIST3041 you will write an essay of no more than 4,000 words that explores a topic of your choice within the context of dragon-human interactions across history. Your essay should critically analyse how dragon-human relationships have evolved, considering cultural, political, economic, and/or symbolic dimensions. You are encouraged to draw on historical texts, folklore, mythology, literary works, and relevant academic research to support your arguments.
You may address one of the following prompts or one of your own devising, but in that case you should confirm with me that it is suitable before you begin writing:
[...]
f. A comprehensive critical analysis of a historically important human or dragon figure, and their role in shaping the evolution of dragon-human relations.
this was a hilarious read, as it takes the shape of an unfinished paper (with a metanarrative surrounding it of late submission and a perhaps accidentally uploaded the wrong version of the file) with plenty of opinions from the author - who had very clearly imprinted on Laurence as their historical figure blorbo! and shippy. A+ from me. this reads exactly like something I would've drafted. (I tidied mine up before submitting, lol.) don't skip the footnotes.
3.0: Subject content (1061 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Additional Tags: Worldbuilding, Pseudo-History
Summary: Extracts from the subject specification for the UK A-level in Magical History (7081).
Not an academic paper this time, but a course description (one that makes me want to take this course, now). I've recently read JSAMN for the first time so it's very fresh in my mind, and it's fun to see canon laid out as if it's a real historical course, and presenting the events of the book in slightly different ways than what a fan would expect. like the above two fics, this looks at what available texts and historical record there is and goes from there. loved the line with Segundus and magical schools as it's definitely my headcanon that he did go on to teach magic after the events of the book.
I'm still reading, so I hope to be back with more recs later.
