My Top 50 Fanfic Recs from 2015

[kaytaylorrea]

In this very special edition of Fic Rec Monday, I'm sharing my fifty favorite fics from the last year. 2015 was a strange year for me, fanfic reading-wise, because I wasn't consuming much in the way of visual media (which tend to be my main fandoms) and I spent a lot of time reading older fics from familiar and new-to-me fandoms. I discovered a lot of great stuff through backlist diving, but this list contains only fics posted or finished in 2015 (no works in progress). There are a handful of fics from the last two weeks of 2014 because YULETIDE. Alright, enough yammering: 50 fics in 23 fandoms. Let's go.


The 100:

Are We In The Clear Yet (Good) by chash
Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin, AU - Modern, Famous Actor!Clarke, Bookstore Owner!Bellamy
Summary: After a rough few years, Clarke Griffin really needs to get out of Hollywood. A summer movie in Arcadia, Virginia seems like the perfect opportunity to rethink her life.

draw me crazy by jaegermighty (moirariordan)
Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin, Drawing, Developing Relationship
Summary: “God is dead, and you owe me a picture, Clarke.”

face it, tiger by hai_mae
Monty Green & Jasper Jordan (the bffs we all aspire to be), Monty Green/Nathan Miller, Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin, Octavia Blake/Lincoln, AU - Modern, AU - Coffee Shops & Cafes
Summary: All Monty and Jasper have ever wanted was to become famous comic book writers. They have the talent, but they just can’t manage to come up with any ideas that...well. Don’t suck. But when they stumble across Coffee Grouners, where all the baristas and regulars are ridiculously, painfully attractive--especially Clarke and Bellamy, who spend as much time staring wistfully at each other as they do screaming about who makes a better cappuccino. And Monty and Jasper should probably ask their permission before they use them as characters in their new webcomic, but hey. They figure it won’t be a big deal.

(It becomes a big deal.)

In which Monty becomes one of the creators of the year’s best new webcomics, drinks a lot of chai tea lattes, and falls hopelessly, pathetically in love with that one sullen barista who always wears a beanie.

The Fool Might Be My Middle Name by chash
Raven Reyes/Kyle Wick, Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Minor Finn Collins/Raven Reyes
Summary: Ark AU. Finn Collins gets out of the Sky Box; Kyle Wick can’t stop adopting people.

Meet Me in the Morning by monroeslittle
Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements
Summary: “I guess one of us is messed up,” he said, “and it’s part of our hallucination that the other is, too.” He paused. “Seems appropriately hellish that my mind sticks me with you.”

She pursed her lips. “Likewise.”

AU. Clarke is trapped in a stupid time loop, and guess who’s trapped with her?

the world is full of magic things by hai_mae
Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin, Alternate Universe - Daemons
Summary: Nobody could ever mistake Bellamy for a hero. And if they got confused, well--they’d only have to look at his daemon. (A His Dark Materials Fusion fic.)


Brooklyn Nine-Nine:

Think Once, Think Twice by fahye
Jake Peralta/Amy Santiago, Woke Up Married
Summary: “First one to cry annulment covers the other’s weekends for six months,” Jake says instantly.

(or, the one where amy santiago falls in love with and gets drunk vegas married to jake peralta, not necessarily in that order)


Check, Please!:

Comfortable Territory by accidentallymelted
Eric Bittle/Jack Zimmerman
Summary: “Shit, man, you’ve got your eye on someone? Who is it? Do I know her? What’s the hold up?” Shitty asks.

Jack furrows his brow, confused. “Uh, what? Shitty, no, there’s no girl-”

“A guy?” Shitty interrupts, clearly having entirely missed the point. Jack opens his mouth to point this out, but Shitty beats him to it. “Oh, shit. Bitty?”

Positive Image by twentysomething
Eric Bittle/Jack Zimmerman, Larissa “Lardo” Duan/Shitty Knight, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence
Summary: When Bittle first showed up at a meeting with management, sitting next to Sara with wide, scared eyes, Jack didn’t think he had a chance in hell. Sara hired new assistants all the time, most of whom barely made it through a season.


Downton Abbey:

Hollowing Stone by shuofthewind
Tom Branson/Sybil Crawley, Mary Crawley/Matthew Crawley, Sybil Crawley & Mary Crawley, Sybil Crawley & Gwen Dawson, Sybil Crawley & Matthew Crawley, Alternate Universe - Canon, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Literary References & Allusions, Women’s Rights, Politics
Summary: All the Crawley girls have soulmarks. You’d think that would make things easier.

“You,” she says, and her voice is breathless and quiet. They are alone, there is no one to say a word but her, and Branson’s eyes are burning in his face.

[Spans over Series One.]

Something Worth Having by mrstater
Richard Carlilse/Mary Crawley, Edith Crawley/Michael Gregson, Mary Crawley/Matthew Crawley, Edith Crawley/Evelyn Napier, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Post Canon, Grief/Mourning
Summary: When Mary moves to London to escape painful memories of Matthew at Downton, she must face more than grief as former suitors and her estranged sister come back into her life.


Game of Thrones:

All Summer We Just Hurried by chash
Arya Stark/Gendry Waters, Sansa Stark/Margaery Tyrell, Alternate Universe - Modern, Renaissance Faires
Summary: Arya’s finally gotten to work with the knights at Robert Baratheon’s summer faire, but it turns out she’d rather spend time with the blacksmith.

Dream Until Your Dreams Come True by crossingwinter
Arya Stark/Gendry Waters, Sansa Stark/Edric Dayne, Sansa Stark/Sandor Clegane, AU - Modern, AU - Baseball, AU - College/University, AU - Soulmates, Dream Sharing
Summary: Arya likes the way things are with her soulmate--playing softball in dreams, talking about nothing and everything. But it still feels like cheating when she dreams of Gendry.

Of Sand and Snow by lj_todd
Oberyn Martell/Lyanna Stark, Oberyn Martell/Ellaria Sand, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Arranged Marriage
Summary: This was not how it was supposed to be. But one mistake, one stupid mistake, has changed everything. Neither Lyanna nor Oberyn are happy with the demands of their families, neither wish to be married, most certainly not to each other, but they’ve little choice in the matter. They are expected to marry. To be husband and wife. Yet how can they be when they can barely be civil with one another? Dorne has seen its share of conflict, but nothing could have prepared the nation for the clash of wolf and viper that this union will bring about.


Hannibal:

he has raised me from the pit and set me high by coloredink
Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter, Alternate Universe - Priest, Religion, Food, Courtship
Summary: If I were still a cop, nobody would have called it brave,” Will replied. “Then I would’ve just been doing my job.”

“But you’re no longer an officer of the law,” Dr. Lecter said, though the words didn’t have the force of a rebuttal. “I’m curious; what brought you from law enforcement to ministry?”

i speak in smoke signals and you answer in code by coloredink
Will Graham & Hannibal Lecter, Alternate Universe, Dark Will Graham, Hannibal is not a cannibal
Summary: “My name is Hannibal Lecter. I am a colleague of Alana Bloom’s. I also do some consulting for the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit.”


Harry Potter:

Helix by saras_girl
Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Eighth Year, Alternate Universe - Epilogue What Epilogue
Summary: Seven months after the end of the war, Harry is feeling lost. Fortunately, he is about to be offered an unexpected and sparkling chance to find himself again.

On the Turning Away by bluebrampton
Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Auror Harry, Potions
Summary: It’s one thing to be good at not making a besotted fool of yourself over a man when he’s busy being the most famous wizard in the world and you’re tucked away quietly in Wiltshire. it’s quite another when you have to see him every morning.


The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings:

A Most Sensible Idea by HildyJ
Bilbo Baggins/Thorin Oakenshield, Dwalin/Ori, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Erebor Never Fell, Cultural Differences, Timeline What Timeline, Courtship, Arranged Marriage, Class Differences
Summary: Bilbo Baggins isn’t sure about this. Not one bit.

Frodo is definitely too young to enter into an arranged marriage with a dwarven king called Thorin Oakenshield. It’s a good thing that Bilbo is there to chaperone him through their courtship.

After all, there’s no chance that a fussy hobbit bachelor would ever catch the eye of a king.

Wedding Cup by smilebackwards
Gimli/Legolas Greenleaf, Meeting the Parents, Wedding Planning
Summary: I would have your comment on the seating arrangements, Gloin wrote above a drawing of Erebor’s reception hall where he’d crowded dozens of long tables with dwarves and set a small table labelled Thranduil three back from the head table, a deliberate taunt.


Hockey RPF:

And Never Been Kissed by thehoyden and twentysomething
Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin, Alternate History, Epistolary, Pining
Summary: Sid didn’t introduce himself in the hallway, and he certainly doesn’t assume that people know who he is. So it would only be polite to thank Malkin again, this time more personally.

He could write him a letter. An email? No, a letter.

Dress for the Weather by electrumqueen
Sidney Crosby/Jack Johnson, Patrick Kane/Jonathan Toews, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Future Fic, Familes of Choice
Summary: In the spring of 2016, the NHL signs off on the last pieces of paperwork required to incorporate a Halifax expansion franchise: the Halifax Privateers, a.k.a, “that team with ladies on the roster.” Patrick Kane didn’t think he’d ever work in hockey again, but the 2016-2017 season is rewriting all the rules.

FEATURING: Crosby siblings, various hockey players both real and imagined, and the best (worst) PR office ever to exist. A story about how you have dreams, and those dreams gets turned to dust, and you make yourself happy, anyway.

A Gradual Act of Arson by ladyblahblah
Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin, Arranged Marriage, Marriage of Convenience, Cohabitation, Marriage Contracts, Pining
Summary: “Are you telling me that you worked a divorce clause into your contracts?”

“It was management’s idea, actually,” Sidney nods. “I, uh, I didn’t exactly tell my mom about that part, but. yeah. We just need to get him over here without the KHL trying to pull anything to keep him from leaving. We have to stay together for two years, just to make sure everything’s settled and definite with his citizenship and contract and everything, and then we’re in the clear to break up without any of the usual salary penalties.”

Pass It On by thefourthvine
Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin, Jamie Benn/Tyler Seguin
Summary: Ninety percent of everyone’s problems could be solved by a robot that just texted NO to hockey players on a regular basis. Unfortunately, Sidney didn’t have a robot.

Sing Each Song Twice Over by uraneia
Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin, Career-Ending Injury, Post Retirement, Second Chances, Pining
Summary: After he retires, Sid retreats to the Canadian wilderness and no one in the public hears from him for two years. But it’s not like anyone forgets about him. Especially not Geno, who still keeps in touch by phone and e-mail, though he longs for more.

Geno is facing the prospect of life without the NHL when Sidney’s autobiography comes out. Suddenly everone wants a comment. Geno didn’t even know Sid was writing an autobiography.

But he knows now, and he knows--there’s no way to read Sid’s book except as a love letter to Geno, and even if he only meant it as a hockey love letter, it still is. Only Sid won’t answer his calls.

Geno resolves to ask him about it in person. One problem: he has to find him first.


The Hunger Games:

Rented White Dress by arollercoasterthatonlygoesup
Katniss Everdeen/Peeta Mellark, Alternate Universe - No Hunger Games
Summary: “Back home, everything is so much simpler. A woman usually rents a white dress that’s been worn hundreds of times. The man wears something clean that’s not mining clothes. They fill out some forms at the Justice Buildings and are assigned a house. Family and friends gather for a meal or a bit of cake, if it can be afforded. Even if it can’t, there’s always a traditional song we sing as the new couple crosses the threshold of their new home. And we have our own little ceremony, where they make their first fire, toast a bit of bread, and share it. Maybe it’s old-fashioned, but no one really feels married in District 12 until after the toasting.”--Catching Fire, Chapter Seventeen.

(Or, an AU where Everlark gets to have a toasting with a rented white dress, their loved ones, and no Games)


Jurassic World:

broad-shouldered beasts by bullroars
Claire Dearing/Owen Grady, Claire Dearing & T-Rex, Owen Grady & Raptor Squad, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence
Summary: Claire Dearing has successfully run Jurassic World for seven years without a major incident.

Trust Owen Grady to fuck that up.

(Or, three months prior to the Indominus Event, Vic Hoskins makes a bad decision, Owen Grady goes missing, and four six-foot, three hundred pound murder lizards escape into Claire’s park. She can hear Alan Grant shouting, “I told you so!” from Montana.)

The Rise and Fall of Jurassic World, as Witnessed by Lex Murphy by tardisistheonlywaytotravel
Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Lex & Tim work for Jurassic World, Ignores 2nd and 3rd Movie Canon
Summary: The one where Lex and Tim work at Jurassic World, and that changes a few things. Not everything, but some things.


Kings (TV 2009):

The Book of Kings by ysse_writes
Jack Benjamin/David Shepherd
Summary: It’s David that comes for him, finally, one thousand and nine days after Thomasina locked him in, never to return.

only a step between by radialarch
Jack Benjamin/David Shepherd, Post-Canon
Summary: It takes a long time for Jack and David to learn how to communicate.


Law & Order: SVU:

When the Light Shifts by etothepii
Rafael Barba/Dominick “Sonny” Carisi Jr., Weddings, First Dates
Summary: “Isn’t it too late? I must have missed the RSVP deadline by now.”

Carisi shrugged, looking awkward for a brief moment. “Yeah, my plus one fell through so there’s a space open. You can come with me.”


The Man from U.N.C.L.E.:

The Gemini Affair by manic_intent
Illya Kuryakin/Napoleon Solo, Movie Post-Canon
Summary: In the first month of being co-opted into working with Illya Kuryakin full time at U.N.C.L.E., Napoleon stole Illya’s father’s watch four times, twice out of spite, once out of drunken curiosity, and once out of shee boredom. After the fourth time, Gaby sprained one of Napoleon’s fingers and threatened to do worse if he did it again.

“You are not a spy,” she told him firmly, dangling the watch out of reach as Napoleon curled in a wincing, fetal position on his Le Corbusier couch in his upstate partment. “You are a thief with the self-control of a child. Now give me back my ring.”

“What ring?” Napoleon asked innocently, even through the pain.

“How fond are you of your nose?” Gaby shot back blandly.

Waging World Peace by Alex51324
Illya Kuryakin/Napoleon Solo, TV Canon, Queer 1950’s, Spies in Love, Historical Accuracy
Summary: “There is something you should know before making a final decision.”

“I’m already aware he’s Russian, sir,” Napoleon said. “And he’s still on good terms with them, so he must at least technically be a Communist.”

Waverly brushed that aside. “All of the Russian agents are. Kuryakin, however, is also an admitted homosexual.”

(An original-recipe Man from U.N.C.L.E. fic.)


The Martian:

Nunquam te tradam by otter
Chris Beck/Beth Johanssen/Mark Watney, Post-Book, Post-Movie, Polyamory, Ares3some
Summary: Some of Beck's methods for social healing are not peer-reviewed, and Johanssen is a terrible enabler. And still a nerd.


Marvel Comics:

Say You Will, Say You Won’t by Traincat
Peter Parker/Johnny Storm, Fake/Pretend Relationship
Summary: Johnny Storm found him on a Friday afternoon, wearing the kind of beseeching look that filled Peter with dread.

“I need to ask you a favor,” he said.

“No,” Peter said, swinging away.

--

Peter and Johnny get married, really-not-really. Set after Fantastic Four 600 and FF17 -- basically after Johnny’s return from the Negative Zone -- but it assumes SpiderOck never happened.


Marvel Cinematic Universe:

Aunts Aren’t Gentlemen by screamlet
Edwin Jarvis & Tony Stark, Peggy Carter & Tony Stark, Maria Stark & Tony Stark, Edwin Jarvis & Peggy Carter, Pre-Iron Man 1, Boarding School, Road Trips, Flashbacks, 1979 and 2000, Slice of Life, Story within a Story, Breaking the Fourth Wall, Featuring Paul Bettany as the Voice of Jarvis
Summary: “First things first,” Tony says. “I loved A Knight’s Tale.”

The Fifties by Speranza
James “Bucky” Barnes/Peggy Carter/Steve Rogers, End of the War, Weddings, Pregnancy Issues, Drag Racing, Suburbia, Spy Stuff, Science Fiction, Sacrifice
Summary: “Because everything’s all right, isn’t it?” Bucky said. “Everything’s great. I’m so happy; I never thought I could be this happy. You’re happy too, aren’t you, Peg?”

The Immortal Hawkeye by copperbadge
James "Bucky" Barnes/Clint Barton, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark (background), Clint-centric, Parent-Child Relationship, Science, Super Soldier Serum, Surprise Fatherhood
Summary: Clint's a little older than he looks, and his DNA has a few surprises in store, too.

The Soldier and the Hurricane by copperbadge
Howard Stark/Maria Stark, James “Bucky” Barnes & Tony Stark, Anna Jarvis/Edwin Jarvis, Alternate Universe - 1960s, Parent - Child Relationship, Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes
Summary: When the Winter Soldier fails to kill Howard and Maria Stark and is taken prisoner in the summer of 1967, his salvation comes in the unlikely form of a Russian-speaking, father-disobeying, endlessly-tinkering seventeen-year-old: Tony Stark.

Trust Fall by AlchemyAlice
Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Alternate Universe - Canon, Epistolary, PTSD, Pre-Slash
Summary: He watched Cap--Rogers--take in the gleaming armour on the floor, the outfit Tony had on, and the utilitarian but still fairly sophisticated interior of the medical bay. Watched as the consternation gave way to creeping dead.

“How long?” he asked, after a long moment. He sounded hoarse and far off. “Have we won?”

The door slammed open and both of them jumped. Tony put a hand tentatively on Cap’s wrist. Cap looked at him, watchful, but more trusting than Tony deserved. He tried to keep his voice steady.

“We won,” he said. “We won seventy years ago. My name’s Tony Stark. I’m Howard’s son.”


Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries:

fighting vainly the old ennui by fahye
Phryne Fisher/Jack Robinson, Jack Robinson & Elizabeth Macmillan, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Identity Porn
Summary: The Bowerbird wasn’t playing fair; Jack couldn’t debate these pieces of paper. He couldn’t tell pieces of paper and a growing pile of feathers that he, too, remembered the rare treat that was eating a single piece of tropical fruit in the heavy heat of a Christmas afternoon, stickying his best suit of clothes, which had been so clean and pressed for church that morning.

(In which Inspector Robinson is having a fairly uneventful year, divorce nothwithstanding, until he acquires a lady doctor for a drinking buddy and receives a series of flirtatious notes from a jewel thief.)


North & South - Elizabeth Gaskell:

wake me when it’s over by asteristar
Margaret Hale/John Thornton, Alternate Universe - Hunger Games, Angst, Romance
Summary: “He was cold and angry and he wanted to go home but I’m sorry, I’m sorry, he sent me instead.” (Hunger Games AU)


Scandal (TV):

For Success by lightgetsin
Mellie Grant/Fitzgerald Grant, Mellie Grant/Olivia Pope, Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Madame President Mellie
Summary: “You’re too young,” was the first thing Olivia Pope ever said to her, while their hands were still clasped in a shake.

“I know,” Mellie said. Too young to be president even if she were a man. And good genetics along with a lifelong skincare regime didn’t help, either. The American people, as a body, couldn’t spell gravitas if you gave them a dictionary. But they sure as hell wanted it.

“It’s fine,” Olivia Pope said. “I can sell it.”


Teen Wolf:

Cross a Canyon (with a broken limb) by theroguesgambit
Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Misunderstandings, Monster of the Week, Pining, Tutoring
Summary: “You never graduated,” Stiles says, just to say it. To test it out in the open air. That’s...huh.
--
Stiles spends his senior year battling troll-gremlins, taking on an unexpected tutoring job, and definitely not falling for a certain sourwolf (even though everyone else seems to think he is.)

The Guard and the Red by andavs
Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Allison Argent/Scott McCall, Vernon Boyd/Erica Reyes, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Alive Hale Family, Deputy Derek Hale, Emissary Stiles Stilinski
Summary: Derek moves back to Beacon Hillls after twelve years in New York and finds that the city has a superhero problem, his sister has a co-op problem, he has a neighbor problem, and he and Stiles spend a lot of time hanging from a fake rock and yelling at each other at seven in the morning.

A Hale for the Holidays by rlnerdgirl
Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Alternate Universe - Human, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Stiles is a homeless doctoral student, Derek is a semi-famous author, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, New York City
Summary: “I sent you a Christmas card that got sent back to me. Did you get a new apartment?” his dad wonders. The question is all suspicion and little anything else.

A flicker of an idea sparks. it’s not nearly formed well enough for him to say, “Yeah, actually,” and when he follows that with, “I moved in with someone,” he wants to punch himself in the face. he’s living with someone?!

“You’re living with someone?” It’s the same voice and tone as the one in Stiles’ head, just thirty years older.

Two things keep Stiles from bashing his face onto the table: there’s a steaming cup of coffee in the way and, more importantly, his dad will definitely hear. Someone passes by in front of him and a semi-familiar book cover catches his eyes. “Derek Hale,” he muses, and stops. No. That wasn’t meant to be out loud.

The Moon’s Gonna Follow Me Home by turningterrific
Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence (Post 3b), Malia Tate/Stiles Stilinski (Minor/Past), Derek leaves Beacon Hills, Derek deserves nice things, Small Towns, Therapy, Slow Build, Families of Choice, Road Trips
Summary: Derek doesn’t want to call the window repair guy. He doesn’t want to sweep up the glass. he’ll inevitably miss a few shards and pull them out of the bottom of his bare feet for weeks.

He doesn’t want to try to make this place feel like home when it isn’t. Derek stayed in Beacon Hills and tried to make it work because he wanted pack, wanted purpose. he gave his best effort and found himself back where he started: alone, with a few begrudging allies. he’s tired, and even though his werewolf body heals quickly, he feels the weary ache down to his center.

He packs his car with the few things he cares about enough to drag them from place to place. He locks the loft and calls a realtor about listing the building he’d bought in a misguided attempt to secure a future.

And then he leaves.

Not Quite Lost (Not Quite Found) by alocalband
Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence (Post 3b), Psychological healing through baked goods and carpentry, Slow Build, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff
Summary: A year after the nogitsune is defeated, Derek is living a quiet life in the mountains above a small town in Colorado.

Then Stiles shows up.


Tortall - Tamora Pierce:

The Dark is Light Enough by harborshore
Alexander of Tirragen/Thom of Trebond, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fix-It
Summary: “You’re young,” Alex says bluntly. “Younger than me, even, and no one thought me any good until I’d proven myself in battle. And those of us who study the sword have many more opportunities to prove ourselves publicly--you lot are all shut away in your cloister, how would anyone even know?”

“It’s not like they thought anything of me there either until the first rials,” Thom says, a thouch bitter. “I am so tired of proving myself.”

“I would be too,” Alex says. “I’d look for something decisive. That’s not to say you have to do what Delia says, of course.”

“You don’t seem to doubt me,” Thom says, something odd in his voice. He knocks his shoulder against Alex’s, carefully.

Alex means to use Thom of Trebond to further his own plans. It doesn’t turn out that way at all.


X-Men (Movie-verse):

it doesn’t end it just wears away by pocky_slash
Erik Lehnsherr/Charles Xavier, Reconciliation, Vacation
Summary: Every year, Charles takes a three week vacation from running his school and every year, Erik joins him until it’s time for Charles to return.

This year, Charles hopes he’s not returning alone.