I 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!
( Ocean's 8&11 )

( Temeraire )

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.

( academia (2x Temeraire, 1x JSAMN) )

I'm still reading, so I hope to be back with more recs later.

Happy Yuletide all! I come bearing RECS. first, my own two gifts:

( fence(novelisations), iwtv series (amc) )

And here’s what else I’ve been reading and loving from this year’s Yuletide:

( God’s own country, murderbot, Shetland, oceans 11, oceans 8, temeraire )

I was gifted this lovely fic at hd_erised hd_erised! I pinch-hit this year (again) - I love this fest a lot but couldn't commit to a proper sign-up at the time, so I signed up as a pinch-hitter again. And again, the mods managed to ensure I got a gift as well. 🥰

This doesn't look it on the surface but it's a fun romp of a fic, not as serious as it looks! with a snarky Draco, a wonderful friendship between him and Pansy and Astoria (and a wonderful relationship between Pansy and Astoria as well), UST between H/D, Draco using his wits and out of box thinking to solve a case and getting recognised for it, plus a number of things hinted at below the surface. I particularly appreciated that this Draco hasn't just been to therapy but is still using the tools he got from therapy to manage his trauma. All in all a wonderful, lovely read, smooth flowing and fun, and pretty much just perfect.

Benevolence and Redemption (18330 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Characters: Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter, Astoria Greengrass, Pansy Parkinson, Gawain Robards, Original Characters
Additional Tags: Minor Astoria Greengrass/Pansy Parkinson, Auror Harry Potter, Auror Draco Malfoy, Draco Malfoy in Lingerie, Kissing in the Office, lustful glances, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Post-Second Wizarding War with Voldemort (Harry Potter), Post-War Trauma, Trauma, Mindfulness Exercises, Implied/Referenced Therapy, Flirting, Libraries, Witch Weekly (Harry Potter), Diagon Alley, Winter, Humor, Drinking, Harassment at Work, Shame Over Past Actions, Feelings of Objectification, Additional Warning in End Note, H/D Erised 2021, Frottage, Coming In Pants
Summary:

Draco's the most unlikely Auror recruited to the department in at least three centuries. Ostracised and unwanted, he's been on paperwork duties for the three years since he finished training.

Harry is the Saviour of the Wizarding World with nice forearms and too-large hands who suddenly starts turning up in the Ministry gym when Draco’s there, and sitting on Draco’s desk, and asking for Draco’s assistance on cases.

When Draco’s charm work and penchant for Muggle crosswords are helpful for a case, Potter co-opts him as a partner, and Draco's insulated, organised, hiding-in-plain-sight existence is stripped away.

I will do a life update at some point soon but for now here's a few recs. I spent all day yesterday reading and much of it was yuletide stuff. here's two fics I've particularly enjoyed so far:

Ship's Gossip (5748 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Temeraire - Naomi Novik
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: William Laurence/Tenzing Tharkay
Characters: William Laurence, Temeraire (Temeraire), Tenzing Tharkay
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Privateering, Post-Tongues of Serpents, Internalized Homophobia, Angst with a Happy Ending
Summary: Laurence is beginning to enjoy life as a privateer - though he cannot figure out why Tharkay should still be sailing out with them - when Temeraire decides to ask him about sodomy.


A Series of Discoveries (5734 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Sorcerer Royal Series - Zen Cho, Sorcerer to the Crown - Zen Cho
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Paget Damerell/Robert "Rollo" Threlfall
Additional Tags: Backstory, Meet-Cute, Canon Era, Dandies, dandies ambling about town judging your fashion, one's a magician one's a dragon both are dorks, Pre-Canon
Summary: In which Rollo determines to hide from his relations in the mortal realm, and encounters a variety of unexpected entertainments therein.

aaand here's my hd_erised  gift! which was very unexpected because I didn't really expect to receive a gift at all, since I only came in late as a pinch hitter. I've yet to check anything else out from the fest, but I really enjoyed this:

Home (29377 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 5/5
Fandom: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Characters: Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Pansy Parkinson, Theodore Nott, Ginny Weasley, Original Characters
Additional Tags: Post-Hogwarts, Post-Second War with Voldemort, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Minor Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Minor Pansy Parkinson/Theodore Nott, Auror Harry Potter, Curse Breaker Draco Malfoy, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Sentient Houses, Magical Theory, Accidental Marriage, Accidental Bonding, Fluff, Getting Together, Banter, First Dates, Kissing, Cuddling & Snuggling, POV Harry Potter, Drinking, H/D Erised 2019
Summary: When Harry was forced to leave his house because he couldn't take the things happening there any longer, he realised he'd need to ask for help from the best curse breaker the Ministry had to offer—Draco sodding Malfoy.

He knew it wouldn't be easy, but nothing could have prepared him for what happened after he finally jumped over his own shadow.

A story about an unsolved mystery, a few minor accidents, and finally finding a home.

FIRST, these two gems:

( Uprooted )


THEN: the fic I wrote for yuletide. :DD

A Conspiracy of Marriages (3113 words) by nerakrose
Fandom: Temeraire - Naomi Novik
Relationships: William Laurence/Tenzing Tharkay
Additional Tags: background Granby/Little - Freeform, Humor, Politics, Established Relationship, Fluff, Post-Canon
Summary: Wherein Laurence would just really like to live a quiet, non-scandalous life, thank you very much, except then Temeraire gets really into marriage laws.

This fic can be summed up as: Temeraire brings marriage equality to the 19th century through bullshit and politics. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I am STILL writing my festivebastion fic (...I'm sorry) so I'm feeling just a tiny bit awful about making this post when I've still got one (1) loose end to tie up.

ANYWAY!

1. small_gifts | Remus/Sirius Small Gifts

finalsoul drew me TWO wonderful pieces of art, one being an illustration for my 2015 R/S Games fic no longer easy on the eyes, and the other being art for a prompt I left. I love these drawings SO MUCH you can't possibly believe it - not only because they're for me, but because they're so soft and full of love and gentleness my heart wants to burst just thinking about it. You can see both pieces on Dreamwidth here. The fic illustration is on tumblr, here. The other art isn't on tumblr that I can tell (yet?), but take a moment to check out finalsoul's art, it's all wonderful.

2. hd_erised | H/D Erised

anon wrote me this lovely little gem:

Fly With Me (11086 words) by Anonymous
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Characters: Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy, Astoria Greengrass, Ginny Weasley
Additional Tags: Matchmaking, Long-Haired Draco Malfoy, Background Relationships, Anxiety, Flying, Community: hd_erised, Cats
Summary: It shouldn’t be that hard to cross a line in the grass. So why was it?

This is so sweet and soft and gentle and lovely, I just...had this giant soft smile on my face throughout when I read it. I love it. It's a slow romance, very subtle (just the way I like it) and it was wonderful sinking my teeth into it and watching it unfold, and Draco's anxiety about being back on a broom/the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch melt away. Features: Sam the cat, flying together, clever magic, matchmaking and a whole lot of love.

3. yuletide

anon wrote me Stars in the Woods, a Damien/Robert ficlet (Dream Daddy fandom), and it is this sweetest, most adorable thing EVER. Exactly the kind of thing I wanted when I requested this fandom: just for the two of them to be happy and in love. This is pre-relationship, but it's perfect that way: the fondness, the anticipation, the trust, the gentle happiness...ahhhh, I love it.

4. festivebastion

epithalamium drew me this fanart of Caius and Alcibiades as zookeepers/veterinarians and a TIGER. It comes with a short ficlet as well. Features: Caius' questionable taste in fashion, Al being all shaggy AND HAVING HIS HAIR TIED BACK, the tiger just chilling there? amazing, and the fact they all three will be watching nature documentaries together. (Shh I know the tiger won't go with them but it's my headcanon now that Caius will watch them with the tigers and that Al will join them at any opportunity, even if he denies it).

OTHER STUFF

First, a confession: I meant to read all the things ever from erised, but after reading the first fic my inbox got kind of buried in an avalanche of comments for fest gifts I made (I'm still freaking out about that tbh) + I received two fest gifts around the same time, while I was still wrapping up my yuletide gift (honestly I spent a week after I submitted it just going back and obsessively tweaking it *throws up hands*) + trying to figure out what the hell to do with festivebastion, so... I am very sorry, I have read exactly one (1) erised fic besides my own gift, and it's the first fic that was posted.

it was a very good fic, though! I'm sure everyone and their mother has already read it, but juuust in case: hey, this was a wonderful fic! I LOVE fake dating fics and this one really delivered. I loved Harry's relationship with Will, which felt very real to life, and I adore adore adore queer!Astoria. Harry and Draco's relationship development was wonderful too.

dirtynumbangelboy (39400 words) by Anonymous
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Additional Tags: Post-Hogwarts, HP: EWE, Background Relationships, Minor Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Background Femslash, Past Harry Potter/Original Male Character(s), Recreational Drug Use, Alcohol, Clubbing, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Blow Jobs, Anal Sex, Auror Harry Potter, University, Gay Male Character, Community: hd_erised
Summary: After Harry’s unfortunate encounter with his ex, Draco Malfoy makes him a proposition. Draco wants his parents to stop matchmaking him and Harry wants to make his ex jealous. All they need to do is simply pretend they’re in love. Problem is… Draco already is.

This is a late, late rec, but I got to it late - just at the beginning of this month - so here we go: a hp_nextgen_fest fic written for a prompt I left.

21st Century Medieval Romance (19753 words) by thenewlondoner
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Scorpius Malfoy/Hugo Weasley
Additional Tags: Harry Potter Next Generation, University, Oxford, Kissing, Background Relationships, Community: hp_nextgen_fest
Summary: Hugo, medieval history nerd extraordinaire, did not expect to see Scorpius Malfoy, all-around pompous git, after Hogwarts at all, much less enrolled in the same course at university. So, of course, that’s exactly what happened.

I LOVE everything about this. It's cute and adorable and lovely, and made me smile like an idiot. I love Scorpius' inexperienced and closed off facade melting away, and how soft and ridiculous he is, and Hugo being such a nerd, and slowly falling in love with him. I also love how the muggle and magical worlds weave together here.

I've yet to get around to the festivebastion fics that have posted (for one, I need to finish my own fic aaargh and second, it's still posting so...later), but here's some more yuletide fics:

TEMERAIRE:
all flowers in time, Laurence/Tharkay. Lots of pining, very lovely. I personally could've done without the smut at the end, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

tradition, Laurence/Tharkay w/background Granby/Little. Sweet and lovely, much recommended.

The Hearts is a Tender Beast, Laurence/Tharkay. Full disclosure: I betaed this one. It's lovely, with lots of pining and a really sweet ending.

WONDER WOMAN:
éternité, Wonder Woman (gen). Full disclosure: I also betaed this one. This crosses over with sandman (which I haven't read, though I don't think that hurts. I didn't feel that you need to have read sandman to get this fic). It's genius, and I can't really say much about it without spoiling the entire fic, but it's well worth a read. Lots of tension building, and mystery, and really vivid storytelling.

THAT IS IT, FOR NOW. There are more yuletide fics I want to read, and if I ever stop feeling overwhelmed looking at the sheer volume of fic @ erised, I might read some of that before reveals. no promises, but fingers crossed that in a week's time or two I'll have another rec post up. \o/

i set up a sideblog on tumblr for yuri on ice things - i normally don't care when my usual tumblr starts slanting towards a new fandom - the stuff i reblog on there is an eclectic mix of memes, various book, movie and tv fandoms and the occasional personal post, so it's all par for the course.

but then i made the mistake of checking whether the url victorextranikiforov was free, and well. here i am! *throws up hands*

anyway, RECS. (these will also go up on the sideblog eventually. i'll stick them in the queue or something.)

( four fic recs under the cut )

A Beginner's Guide To The Dangers Of Making Out With Your Fellow Athletes At Parties (10215 words) by ineptshieldmaid
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Otabek Altin/Yuri Plisetsky, Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov
Characters: Otabek Altin, Yuri Plisetsky, Victor Nikiforov, Katsuki Yuuri, Mila Babicheva, Lilia Baranovskaya, Yakov Feltsman, Kenjiro Minami, Nishigori Triplets
Additional Tags: tiny angry russian kitten, friendship for spiky people, make out first talk later, yuri is a teenager and a brat, but is learning to appreciate the magic of friendship, episode 12 compliant, author may be using yurio to ventriloquise her frustration with the major ship, Online Harassment, and other ways yuri's fans are creepy, everyone is bi and nothing hurts
Summary: None of this has anything to do with Otabek, except that Yuri didn’t get Otabek’s number, and so he can’t bitch to him about the whole situation. He makes do with bitching to Mila, who at least agrees that Viktor is impossible to deal with right now.

Otabek keeps liking Yuri’s selfies, but that’s it, that’s the complete and total sum of his communication with Yuri for an entire two weeks. Yuri is not mad about it because there’s nothing to be mad about. They are friends and this, it turns out, is what friends do. Like each other’s selfies and make out at international sporting events. He’s pretty sure Mila’s got at least three friends that fit exactly those parameters.

why you should read this: fun and light read. I like that yuri is allowed to be a teenager and having crushes and making out with people. And otabek, even if in this he's about three years older. It's sweet and I liked it a lot. :)

And thus conclude the fic rec days :D I didn't get much fic reading done today, so there's only the one rec. until next year!

for day one i'm reccing yurio/otabek fics ♥

From Almaty, With Love (71776 words) by BoxWineConfessions
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Otabek Altin/Yuri Plisetsky, Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov
Characters: Yuri Plisetsky, Otabek Altin
Additional Tags: Mutual Pining, Falling In Love, Slow Burn, Slice of Life, lots of playing with each other's hair, Otabek is a renaissance man, Masturbation, Wet Dream, First Kiss, Love Confessions, Brief Mention of Blood, Literal Sleeping Together, Gratuitous making out, pov switching, Hand Jobs, Frottage, First Time, Enthusiastic Consent, Blow Jobs, Intercrural Sex, Yuri is 17, Otabek is 19, Rimming, bottom otabek, Anal Sex, unprotected sex, Premature Ejaculation, Long-Distance Relationship, bottom yuri, versatile couple, orgasm denial/edging, Clothed Sex, Window Sex, gratuitous fingering, Riding, Angst with a Happy Ending
Summary: It’s quiet here. Even if the car alarm on the neighbor’s goddamn BMW has been going off for the past twenty minutes. Quiet, even though the alarm’s got the neighbor’s dog howling like crazy, and the neighbor works second shift and isn’t there to comfort the dumb dog.

It’s quiet…They haven’t spoken to each other since that morning, when Yuri went off to go see his tutor, and Otabek went off to do whatever the hell it was he did in the mornings before he hit the rink.

“You’re used to the noise?”

“Yeah, but…I think I like the quiet too.”

Or: Yuri spends the summer with Otabek in Almaty.

Why you should read this: ok, first off: this fic appears to be unbetaed. there's spag issues from here to almaty and back, to the point where often entire sentences are completely incomprehensible. it also has a bit of a rocky start. that being said, it's still really, really lovely. it does romance in just the kind of subtle and understated way that i love, and despite the spag issues, the writing is good. (i know that i definitely thought 'i want to write like this' a few times.) i love the characterisations of both yurio and otabek, and i love the way they come together and do what they can to make long distance work.


Two Make a Pair (5009 words) by mousapelli
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Otabek Altin/Yuri Plisetsky, Otabek Altin & Yuri Plisetsky
Characters: Otabek Altin, Yuri Plisetsky, Victor Nikiforov, Katsuki Yuuri
Additional Tags: Aged-Up Character(s)
Summary: It started out as a joke, socked feet on hardwood flooring, but somehow the pair skate became something much more for Yuri and Otabek in the end.

why you should read this: ohhhh this is just gorgeous. established relationship fic, and so so so lovely. they're so in love and it doesn't even need to be said (there's not even kissing in this)/pointed out. i love it. i love that their relationship is dynamic and evolves with them, i love the trust between them, i love - everything about this. it's perfect in every way possible.



Come When Invited (4458 words) by mousapelli
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Otabek Altin/Yuri Plisetsky
Characters: Otabek Altin, Yuri Plisetsky, Victor Nikiforov, Katsuki Yuuri
Additional Tags: Wedding Fluff, Meeting the Parents, Olympic Shotgun Wedding
Summary: The 2022 Olympics are in two months, so Otabek proposes the only one way they're going to change Yuri's citizenship in time. Or he just plain proposes. It's one of those.

why you should read this: this is a sequel to two make a pair. this fic is also lovely, but mostly it's funny :D i'm also very amused that for something that is a WEDDING FIC there's still no kissing, but also: with writing this good? you don't need it. THEY'RE SO IN LOVE. i love it. i've re-read this fic (and the one before it) multiple times. so good. i want to hug these fics.

*thud* i have now read everything i wanted to read from hd_erised and with this final rec, i've also recced everything i wanted to rec. and then i will impatiently wait for the reveals to go up. :P

Written on the Heart (113983 words) by Anonymous
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley
Characters: Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Blaise Zabini, Pansy Parkinson, Millicent Bulstrode, Gregory Goyle, Theodore Nott, Luna Lovegood
Additional Tags: Hogwarts Eighth Year, Soulmarks, Slow Burn, flangst, Community: hd_erised, Slytherins, Families of Choice, Falling In Love, Pining, Bad Dreams, HP: EWE, getting drunk, copious swearing, Sarcasm, Muggle Studies, Muggle Fine Dining, wanking, sucking cock, Angst, Bad Decisions, Unexpected friendships, Teasing, Coming Out, Kissing, famous Harry Potter, UST, Happy Ending, Blaise Zabini's dubious porn collection, Clubbing
Summary: Harry doesn’t mind that so many Slytherins from his year have returned to finish their NEWTs, really he doesn’t. It’s just – do they have to be so friendly? He’s not prejudiced, really he’s not. It’s just – they’ve got to be up to something, right? Unnerved by the attention he’s attracting from everyone – the Slytherins are the least of it, to be fair – and struggling with a raft of changes to Hogwarts itself, Harry wishes he could be happy that one constant remains: Draco Malfoy really fucking hates him.

When he’s hit by an illegal love-spell though, Harry finds he has more to worry about than whether or not Blaise Zabini actually wants to be his friend. For if everyone affected has been blessed – or cursed, by the look on Malfoy’s face – with a magical tattoo revealing the name of their soulmate, what does it mean that Harry’s skin remains completely bare?

Why you should read this: ohhhh my lordddd this was so good ♥ i loved everything. it's funny (hilarious, at points), and so, so sweet and lovely too. i loved how harry and draco's relationship developed, harry and his confusion about feelings and attraction (at some point i seriously thought it was going to turn out that harry was aromantic, which would've been amazing tbh, and also now i want a fic where that's the case) to draco, and then draco himself. he hit pretty much all my favourite draco characterisation buttons, so what more could i possibly want?? (i know what more. ron finding harry and draco asleep in bed together, at the end there, because i live for ron being mortified by h/d, always. it makes me laugh so much every time.) ANYWAY. don't let the length of this deter you because this is AMAZING and FANTASTIC and probably actually my favourite fic from erised this year. (it's hard to say - there were so many brilliant fics this year!) it also doesn't hurt that the ust and smutty parts were more of an afterthought (is my impression, anyway), or rather a small part of everything along with other smaller parts to make up a whole, instead of the entire basis of their developing relationship. it makes me very, very happy. ♥