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December recs
In what's starting to be an annual tradition, I got into a new fandom fic-first while procrastinating on Yuletide. But unlike last year, I didn't stop at reading fic, but actually ended up binge-watching all five seasons of 9-1-1! We're gonna be in firefighter found family land for a spell now, ya'll.
I've got a lot this month, so we're back to my five favorites up top, and the rest under the cut. In total, there's sixteen 9-1-1 fics (all Buck/Eddie), plus a handful of fics from ATLA, The Untamed, The Witcher, and Murderbot.
Leave the Light On (I'll Be Coming Home) by @hmslusitania
“We’re here for our grandson,” Helena says.
“Chris is still sleeping,” Buck says.
“I meant, we’re here to take him back to Texas,” Helena clarifies.
“Yeah,” Buck says. He’s too tired, way too tired to be tactful. “Over my dead body.”An accident on a call leaves Buck with custody of Chris after Eddie is... missing presumed. While they navigate their new family circumstances -- and fight to stay together, despite Eddie's parents' best efforts -- a John Doe wakes up in a coma ward with no memory of his own life beyond the knowledge he has a son named Christopher and, somehow, he needs to get home.
This story came for me personally with a fatal two-hit combination of my beloved amnesia and presumed-dead tropes, and the author absolutely destroyed me with both sides of the story - Buck and Christopher grieving and figuring out their new life together, and amnesiac!Eddie managing to pine without remembering what he's longing for. Heartbreaking, romantic, beautifully written. I've already read it twice!
too many heartbeats for one ribcage by @lamardeuse
Eddie's not queer.
It's always fun running into lamardeuse in a new fandom, because they have been wrecking me emotionally with their fic since...2006? When I found Due South fandom? Good times. This one's a beautiful queer character study of Eddie growing up and growing into himself and falling in love.
all that we need by not1_2write
When Buck buys a Powerball lottery ticket he doesn't think much beyond his need for change to air up his tire. He forgets all about the ticket until word spreads that the winning ticket was sold in LA and hasn't been claimed yet and pretty much dismisses it. After all, there's no way he won the lottery.
Turns out no, he really did win the Powerball, to the tune of 295 million dollars and just in time for Christmas. He's going to make sure the 118 has the best Christmas of their lives. And just maybe he'll have a good one too.
Pure fluffy wish-fulfillment of the highest quality, featuring Buck's enormous heart and love for his family. (Am I weak for thoughtful gift-giving? Yes, yes I am.)
Don't Take the Money by @hmslusitania
“You know, being stuck here isn’t actually the end of the world,” Chimney says, coming up to the table and picking up one of the smoke detectors. “It just feels like it, Buck. Trust me, I know.”
“I’m pretty sure it might actually be the end of the world,” Buck says. “Considering this is the sixth time I’ve lived this day.”
Chimney stares at him for a beat and then his eyebrows lift. “Wait, are you like – dude, are you in Groundhog Day?”OR: The post-lawsuit time-loop AU literally no one asked for.
Time loop fic set during 3x06 Monsters. Sheer delight, great characterization, and a clever exemplar of the genre - plus the character-dies-repeatedly-in-weird-ways trope is especially apt given 9-1-1 in general and Bobby's fears about Buck in particular.
things we shouldn't do by @ingu
“Why is everybody taking my relationship status so personally? Can’t I be fine with being single?” Buck said.
“Hey, you don’t have to say yes, be sad and alone if that’s what you want,” Josh replied. “But, I’m just saying. I’ve seen photos and this guy is volcanic levels of hot. Also, single dad, super cute kid. Saves lives for a living like you. I think you should give it a go.”
(the one where Buck and Eddie accidentally get set up on a blind date with each other, and everything snowballs from there)
I love fake-dating fic, but I have gotten very picky about it after all these years in fandom. This one is fresh and funny, from the setup to the fake-dating-for-discounts through the denouement, and just the right amount of angst to balance the sweetness.
Many more recs under the cut!
Before the Night Fades by @milenadaniels
“I have a bottle of champagne, four champagne flutes, one engagement ring to go into one of those champagne flutes, and a note to deliver it all to table 34 with dessert,” Tomas explains, wide-eyed, throwing his hand back to the prep station where said champagne is waiting on ice next to four flutes and a small ring box.
“Okay?”
“Okay so there’s two men and two women and I have no idea who’s getting proposed to. I’m not even 100% on who came with who."
(Or, EddieAna and BuckTaylor double date and it ruins everyone's night.)
This outsider-POV farce is so fucking funny, oh my god. AU for S5, but the OCs are spectacular, the service industry cynicism and gossipiness is strong, and the shenanigans are not to be missed.
Leading with the Left by @letmetellyouaboutmyfeels
When Buck said he was a "bartender" in "South America" what he actually meant was "stripper" in "Mexico."
And when Eddie said, "What's your problem?" what he actually meant was, "Is this about the time you gave me a lap dance?"
In other words, there's a few things the 118 doesn't know about Buck. Or Eddie. Or Buck and Eddie's relationship.
Another hugely popular fic in the fandom, and for good reason. I actually bounced off the summary a few times before reading, but damn I'm glad I finally did. Insanely hot but also achingly romantic, with good follow-through on how their prior relationship changes the landscape of S2-3.
Lifelines by hetrez
Buck said, "Look, I'm sorry I overheard that because it's personal, and you should be able to decide who gets to have that part of you." Eddie came out of his hunch a little and looked him in the eyes, and Buck felt a zing of giddy accomplishment. It maybe made him stupid. "But to be honest, I'm really flattered that Pepa thought a punk like me could get a guy like you."
Eddie's eyes went huge, and under the sodium lights Buck could see his ears turning red.
Shit. Back off, back off, Buck told himself. He said, "I mean, you look like you know how to file your taxes," and immediately wanted to smack himself in the face.
Just two strangers hanging out after a tsunami, talking about being in the closet.
Shockingly tender and intimate for an alternate first meeting where they're strangers, with just really lovely writing to accomplish that.
Six times Buck got recognized by people he saved during the tsunami, and how his team realized he was a hero.
Hello, yes, Buck IS my favorite, thank you, and this story was very good for that part of me that just wants people to appreciate him - but also this is a charming and varied spread of how he runs into people again, and the diversity of their reactions to him.
Unconditionally by Finduilas / @finduilasclln
Eddie doesn’t exactly realize it at first. He probably doesn’t see the full scope of it anyway. Not to mention that helping people is literally what they do for a living. So it’s not like it’s that unusual anyway.
Buck helps people, it’s what he does.
The misunderstanding in this story is so beautifully tuned, with Eddie seeing and understanding Buck and trying to do nice things for him, but managing to land directly in the pit of Buck's insecurities instead.
Does Your Firehouse Know? by allyasavedtheday / @littlespooneven
In retrospect he thinks he should’ve knocked, which is stupid because it’s a communal space and they all have a bed in there. But for his sanity- yeah, he probably should’ve knocked. Because Buck and Eddie were kissing.
No, not even kissing- making out.
“Oh my god,” he blurted out, clapping a hand over his eyes and trying to shield himself from the mental image as he’d stumbled back into the doorframe.
“Oh my god,” Buck exclaimed, sounding horrified.
“Oh my god,” Eddie had added then and the sheer depth of long-suffering exasperation in his voice had been enough to make Chimney peek out from behind his hand.
After Chimney accidentally discovers Buck and Eddie are together they ask him to keep it a secret for a few weeks while they settle into their relationship. It goes about as well as expected.
*wheezing with laughter* This is so funny and affectionate. And Chimney is just so. BAD. at secrets!
always a space in my heart (for you) by alasse
Buck and Eddie meet at a Special Forces conference when Buck is finishing the first phase of his SEAL training and unsure if he can keep going, and Eddie is giving a talk on being a combat medic, feeling overwhelmed. They cross paths, go get breakfast, give each other necessary advice, and exchange contact details. Their long-distance (and sometimes not so long-distance) friendship doesn’t change everything, but they have each other’s backs sooner—and that changes enough.
I've read a few AUs now where they meet while Eddie's in the military, and this one is still my favorite. It does justice to Shannon while also building a rich friendship between the boys (Buck and his research spirals, omg), and the slow burn is quiet but delicious.
The Space Between Sleep by Tattered_Dreams
As weeks pass after the Tsunami, Christopher has Eddie to help him deal with the scars it left behind. He also has Buck. Buck's dealing with his own demons, but he has both of them.
Eddie's trying to keep them all together and finding out his family might not be as small as he thought.
The 118 have their few cents to add, too, because don't they always.
AU after 3x03, but a gorgeous slow burn h/c followup to the trauma of being caught in a tsunami.
I Didn't Know I Was Lonely 'Til I Saw Your Face by @hmslusitania
After the ladder truck and the blood clot and the tsunami, Bobby makes Buck go to therapy before he does something stupid (like sue the city). Buck's not totally comfortable being alone with a therapist, but fortunately he makes a friend and ally who's willing to help him out - Eddie Diaz from the 136 who's just been caught in an illegal fight club.
OR: Total strangers Buck and Eddie go to couple's therapy together to get out of the therapy requirements their captains have placed on them.
Fun and charming and hilarious! The mortifying ordeal of...going to couples' therapy with a stranger and having your issues still be so obvious that your partner-in-crime doesn't let you get away with anything? And then falling in love? It's a wild premise but it works so well.
Five times Buck is Eddie’s co-parent + One time he is Eddie’s everything by Finduilas
Kind of exactly what it says on the tin?
AKA the one where the characterization is so good they called the legal guardianship thing before that episode even aired. *applauds*
Five Minutes by Onelonely_tortillachip
After the lawsuit, Buck decides to take a small vacation to take a break from the stress of coming to work each day to a group of people who can't forgive him. He decides to fly back to Wyoming to the ranch he worked on as a younger man. But the flight he is scheduled to take doesn't make it to its destination.
Definitely leans into the post-lawsuit trope of dragging out the length and severity of Buck being ostracized for the feels, but I really like the plot and emotional arc. It's very much in line with how the show will take a melodramatic premise, turn it up to 11, and then ground it in sometimes-unexpectedly-delicate traumatic fallout and good character work.
MISCELLANEOUS
Mountains and Badgermolehills by Glass_Onion
After the Blue Spirit frees the Avatar from the Pohuai Stronghold, Admiral Zhao captures Prince Zuko under suspicion of treason. Isolated from his Uncle and his crew, Zuko has only one ally: the chatty prisoner one cell over.
This is a wonderful AU, Sokka and Zuko are both amazing and their enemies-to-friends arc is perfect.
Falling to the Rhythm by Selenay / @selenay936
"So it's a bet?" Jiang Cheng said. "Dance the showcase if you get him, fancy coffee machine if you don't?"
Wei Wuxian considered the machine. "Fine. You're on. I want it in red."
"Don't start planning your caffeine overdose yet."
"It's in the bag," Wei Wuxian said cheerfully. "There's no way they'll match me with someone like Lan Wangji."
Teaching Lan Wangji to dance in front of the nation for twelve weeks, how hard can that be? Wei Wuxian is about to find out.
Adorable slow burn Strictly Come Dancing AU.
Geralt is pretty sure he's going to win the Weirdest Hunt contest this year.
Hilarious ficlet about the witchers trading stories, which are all indeed as delightfully weird as the summary promises.
“the doctor (or MedSystem) is in”/“doctor’s visit” by @words-writ-in-starlight
Jena thinks she’s probably in shock. She’s supposed to stay in her assigned room until she’s cleared, but sitting still and letting the med drones hum around her and scan her for respiratory issues was making her restless, and apparently the MedSystem noticed. She hates that. Jena hates it when bots know stuff about her, just from looking, just from filtering through all their data on her and knowing. It makes her think about how short her leash is.
Great coda for Fugitive Telemetry from the POV of the girl who shot Murderbot.