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December recs
Whew, I read a lot of fic in December! My Yuletide recs are here and here, and I winnowed down the rest of them to a mere ten recs.
Click on for Batman, Murderbot, and Goblin Emperor fics!
BATMAN
The Time Before by @cdelphiki
One moment, Red Hood was fighting with Black Mask, listening to the idiot go on about how he'd murder Jason long before he'd become a problem. The next… Jason was ten years in the past, nine-years-old, and fending for himself on the streets of Gotham. Bruce might not know about Jason yet in the timeline, but Batman was the only one who could protect him against Black Mask.
If only Jason didn't hate him so much…
Excellent time travel fic!
this kind of weather by r_astra / @heyy-its-skip
Jason’s at school when his mom dies, and that’s the only reason any of it happens. If he’d been home, if he’d been with her, he would’ve been in the wind before anyone else even knew. Even if they looked, no one ever would’ve found him. He’d have taken to the sewers if that’s what it took, man-eating crocodile guy and all.
I love Jason in this, and his friendship with Stephanie, and the identity secrets.
seventeen going under by @bonerot19
"Where's your pops?" Terry shouted down the sidewalk.
"Dunno," Jason said. "Haven't seen him in a week. I stopped goin' lookin' for him a long time ago."
Hell, Jason was happy with the man's absence. Maybe it would stick, this time.
"He owes me fifty bucks." Terry, closer to Jason now, was still shouting.
Jason spun around and started walking backwards. "What'a'ya know," he said. "Me too."
AU where Jason is seventeen, his parents are alive, he works nights at a convenience store, and everything is about to go to shit.
Loosely inspired by this kind of weather (in that Jason's parents survived longer) but much heavier on the angst and h/c. I'm loving the WIP sequel as well!
coconut and aloe by merils (Tim/Kon)
Tim still doesn’t sit. “I washed it like three times, but my hair still smells like vinegar and death,” he says, and gazes intently into Kon’s eyes.
…Ah. Now Kon gets it.
“Tim, buddy,” he says, amusement bubbling up in his chest, because apparently Tim can’t just ask like a normal person. It’s stupidly endearing. “Do you want me to wash your hair?”
Soft and sensual and sweet.
MURDERBOT
An Unexpected Quarter by @ilovedthestars
Murderbot is captured by the company, with no one to come to its rescue. Help comes from somewhere it doesn’t expect.
Aimed directly at my id, and a great outsider POV. On a similar theme, I also enjoyed Salvage or Repair by the same author.
words left behind by torpidgilliver
"How do you stand it?"
Dr. Gurathin's tone is slow and even when he asks, "Stand what?"
SecUnit 3 shares its feelings with someone who might understand.
Beautiful exploration of Three's grief, and a lovely look at Gurathin's life.
Terrible Tactical Strategy by audreycritter
Three is behaving oddly.
There's a surprisingly ordinary explanation, it's just that the explanation isn't fun for anyone.
In which Three has feelings about media in an entirely new direction, and a mini breakdown. Achy but kind.
Un/Safe by John_lzhc
Ayda Mensah was in her office cubby, reviewing the last of the council dispatches, when she received an urgent assistance request from Secunit.
That… had never happened before.
Murderbot has a close encounter of a 3-year-old kind. It is not impressed.
*cackles* Look, Murderbot is so competent that I just can't resist stories where it panics in social situations.
GOBLIN EMPEROR
The Search for Marneise Amalo by Sphragis
"Before we may attend to the truly important aims of our account, we must address a matter that we had rather not. Were it not for the prurient curiosity of the worst kind of people, we would not deign even to introduce the following subject. As we are obliged to speak, we shall keep the point brief: Pel-Thenhior was not marnis. The accusation was always and only vicious rumor."
On the (in)ability of love to find expression in the historical record.