Fic Rec Monday: High School AUs for Jenny @ReadingtheEnd

[kaytaylorrea]

Because fandom is an odd and ciruitous beast, the next installment of the Favorite Authors Project is postponed and you're getting a new rec list today! The fabulous Jenny of Reading the End, the blog and the podcast, had a guest appearance on Fangirl Happy Hour with the inimitable Renay, also of the delightful and Hugo-nominated Lady Business blog. That's...a lot of fannish awesomeness all wrapped together. Anyway! Jenny mentioned on FGHH that she loves high school AUs and because I'm such a giving person --

@readingtheend @fangirlpodcast @renay so I just finished listening and JENNY DO YOU WANT HIGH SCHOOL AU FIC RECS WHAT ARE YOUR FANDOMS?

— Kay Taylor Rea (@kaytaylorrea) June 8, 2016

-- to which Jenny responded

@kaytaylorrea I JUST RECOVERED THE MEMORY OF THIS OFFER YES YES YES I DO WANT THAT

— Jenny @ReadingtheEnd (@readingtheend) June 10, 2016

and thus a rec list was born. Here are ten of my favorite high school AUs.


The 100

Dulce et Decorum Est (To Go Home and Get Some Rest) by Chash (10,276 for this fic, 39,697 for the full series)
Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin, Raven Reyes/Kyle Wick, Wells Jaha, Alternate Universe - High School
Summary: Clarke joins the Junior Classical League for two reasons: to appease her mother and to annoy Bellamy Blake.
Rec Notes: So I did not know this was a thing, but Junior Classical League is basically Latin Club on steroids and with lots of cool competitions. Take the two snarkiest assholes in school and make them team up and this fic is what happens. I thoroughly enjoy the whole series, where Bellamy and Clarke get progressively more old married couple (without actually getting that old), but only the first four have the characters in high school. College AUs are fun, too, though!

Game of Thrones

do you want to be with somebody like me? by heart_nouveau (5,774 words)
Sansa Stark/Margaery Tyrell, Elinor Tyrell, Myranda Royce, Robb Stark, Jon Snow, Fluff, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - High School, Private School, Los Angeles, Everyone Is Gay
Summary: “Well, um, I’m straight,” Sansa says uncertainly.

Everyone’s heads whip around.

“What?”
Rec Notes: The Starks move to Los Angeles and Sansa's the only straight girl at her new school. Or, you know. Maybe not. There's sort of something about that Margaery Tyrell.

Greek & Roman Mythology

a lesson in love by achaiion (3,207)
Achilles/Patroclus, Briseis, Thetis, Chiron, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - High School, Greek Mythology - Freeform, Homophobic Language
Summary: "You have to go." Achilles says, and his hands are on Patroclus' chest, but they aren't pushing. No- he's doing a lot of things, but he's not pushing. He's memorising the feeling of smooth skin beneath his hands, and he's counting the pulse that thuds beneath the right, committing that to memory too. He's feeling the rise and fall of his best friend's chest - best friend, boyfriend, lover, whatever; they all feel like synonyms now - and he's meeting those dark brown eyes with his own. "If my mother catches you here she'll kill you."

"I know." Patroclus murmurs, but he makes no move to go.
Rec Notes: Short and quiet and aching. Technically this is The Song of Achilles fic, but knowledge of the novel is unnecessary if you have enough classics background to recognize the characters' names. For reference, I have basically zero classics background and I still loved this. So.

Marvel

Matched Your Own Beat by lady_ragnell (24,992 words)
Daredevil, Matt Murdock/Franklin "Foggy" Nelson, Claire Temple, Karen Page, Wilson Fisk, Vanessa Marianna Fisk, James Wesley, Leland Owlsley, Doris Urich, Ben Urich, Marci Stahl, Alternate Universe - High School, Speech and Debate, Bullying, Breaking Up & Making Up
Summary: Someone gives Foggy Nelson a note pretending to be Matt asking him out, and Matt plays along. It seems like the best option at the time.
Rec Notes: One of my favorite things about this story is how pitch perfect Foggy's dialogue is without seeming inappropriate for the setting. Also, sort-of fake dating is my jam. And apparently clubs where kids argue about various things. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

see a thing a thousand times by Mizzy (26,896 words)
MCU (mostly), Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Sam Wilson, Reed Richards, Identity Porn, First Kiss, Secret Identity, Alternate Universe - High School, Oblivious Steve Rogers, Oblivious Tony
Summary: Whoever came up with the rule that SHIELD agents in modern times had to be a certain age should be shot. Obviously the solution is for Steve to travel back in time. (If only things were ever that easy.)
Rec Notes: This is possibly the first fic I've ever read where I didn't want to immediately shove Reed Richards out of a window, so that's impressive. No, but it's SO MUCH FUN. You get the identity porn stuff because Teen!Tony is secretly Iron Man and Steve can't tell anyone he's Cap and also he's rooming with Sam, because of course, and there's mad science and guerrilla beautification projects and it's just really delightful, okay?

Pitch Perfect

The Party's Crashing Us by sexonastick (9,299 words)
Beca/Chloe, Aubrey, Alternate Universe - High School, Cheerleaders, Misanthropic Loners
Summary: Beca has never been big into high school activities, but sometimes desperate people do desperate things. Like show up for marching band and get stalked by the creepy redheaded cheerleader who won't leave you alone.
Rec Notes: Pitch Perfect is one of those canons where I just want to take the writers by the shoulders and say, "You had such a perfect opportunity for lesbians and you didn't go there." Because, really. In this AU Beca's her misanthropic loner self, but needs to find a way to get out of Family Night so she's playing triangle for the school marching band. She seriously doesn't get why that cheerleader keeps winking at her.

Sherlock (TV)

Common Grounds by couchbarnacle (66,875 words)
Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, Lestrade, Mycroft Holmes, Alternate Universe - High School
Summary: John Watson is working at Holmes Manor for the summer and is caught up in the whirlwind that is Sherlock Holmes.
Rec Notes: This one feels a bit like cheating, because while they're high schoolers it's not really about their school lives. Features what is probably my favorite iteration of Mrs. Hudson. Plus Sherlock's dog is called Metacarpal. Because of course it is.

Star Trek

Love Story by waldorph (8,559 words)
James T. Kirk/Spock, Frank, Winona Kirk, Christopher Pike, George Samuel Kirk, Sarek, Number One, Alternate Universe - High School
Summary: You were Romeo, you were throwing pebbles and my daddy said, "Stay away from Juliet" and I was crying on a staircase, begging you, "Please don't go."
Rec Notes: Okay, but no, you see, it's a high school AU Kirk/Spock fic inspired by a Taylor Swift song, there was no way this wasn't going to be my jam. Please just take a moment to picture teen!Spock wooing teen!Jim. Just. PICTURE IT.

Teen Wolf

it's gonna take a superman by kellifer_fic (14,184 words)
Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Scott McCall, Allison Argent, Erica Reyes, Isaac Lahey, Vernon Boyd, Lydia Martin, Jackson Whittemore, Danny Mahealani, Sheriff Stilinski, Alan Deaton, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Alternate Universe - High School
Summary: Derek figured the Children of Villains support group would at least be full of outcasts like him. How wrong could he be?
Rec Notes: I always feel weird reccing Teen Wolf high school AUs, because theoretically most of the characters are in high school, but the show has never been about the high school experience. Also, Derek is in high school in this story, which is decidedly AU. This is essentially a Sky High fusion which -- that movie has problems, but ohmygod somebody made a high school superhero movie and I will always be happy about that. (Also, Wonder Woman herself plays the principal in that movie, which WHAT?!)

X-Men: First Class

If You Liked The Book, You'll Hate The Movie by paperclipbitch (57,918 words)
Erik Lehnsherr/Charles Xavier, Hank McCoy/Alex Summers, Sean Cassidy/Mystique, Emma Frost/Sebastian Shaw, Armando Muñoz/Angel Salvadore, Moira MacTaggert, Scott Summers, Alternate Universe - High School, Depression
Summary: Modern-Day High School AU. It’s not until Hank realises half the class are glancing towards the back of the classroom with something like nerves and something like schadenfreude that he finds out Alex Summers is back.
Rec Notes: I held off reading this for ages because Hank/Alex the ultimate meh, but I was wrong, always trust paperclipbitch. This reads the way really great contemporary YA does: with brutal honesty and a lot of heart. Plus, you know. X-Men. In high school.