Yuletide (continued): A Treat & More Recs

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I have a completely unexpected Madness-collection treat to report -- a delightful sequel to one of my favorite stories from last year.  It appears I'm a co-recipient by virtue of having left inspirational feedback on the original piece.  (I only hope we don't have to wait another year for the next installment.)

Tangled (2010)/Valdemar Series - Mercedes Lackey
Inevitable (429 words) by Anonymous
Rating: General Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Maximus (Tangled), Rapunzel (Tangled)
Series: Part 2 of Companion!Maxverse

Some things just never go as planned.

And a further compilation of recs. A few of these have been mentioned by someone else, but I've tried to focus on lesser-noticed material. 

Batman Beyond
Learning Curve (6431 words) by Anonymous
Rating: General Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Dana Tan, Barbara Gordon, Maxine Gibson

Dana knows who she is. What she doesn't know is who she's going to be.

An intriguing late or post-series look at Dana and Max, with a kind of Birds of Prey sensibility spun through the Beyond worldview.  Well thought out, and a distinctive take on Dana's character.

Forgotten Realms (Elfshadow series)
A Winter Journey (10160 words) by Anonymous
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Danilo Thann, Elaith Craulnober

In the winter after the events of Elfsong, Elaith and Danilo find themselves unwilling travelling companions once again. Unfortunately each other isn't the worst they will have to cope with on this trip either.

A straightforward -- and completely plausible -- trip by caravan becomes a survival adventure for these two spectacularly reluctant allies.  Both are very much in character, and the situation is plausibly challenging. 

Gargoyles
It's a love story for the new age (3061 words) by Anonymous
Rating: Mature
Warning: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Relationships: David Xanatos/Fox Xanatos
Characters: David Xanatos, Janine "Fox" Xanatos, Owen Burnett, Puck (Gargoyles)

This is how the story goes:“Marry me,” he says.

"

Are you serious?” she replies.

Expertly woven between and around the breadth of series canon, this is a wonderfully evocative Fox's-eye take on Xanatos -- and Owen -- and the relationship between the three of them.  (No, not that kind of triangle, people!)

InCryptid - Seanan McGuire
Celebrations (1198 words) by Anonymous
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Dominic De Luca/Verity Price
Characters: Aeslin Mice, Dominic De Luca, Verity Price

The Aeslin mice cordially invite Dominic to attend the Celebration of the Natal Day of the Arboreal Priestess.

In which there is cheese and cake (or at least really good gingerbread), thereby proving that there's definitely hope for Dominic in at least the medium term.  And that a small dose of Aeslin mice goes a long way.

Mrs. Pollifax - Dorothy Gilman
Mrs. Pollifax and the Christmas Party (1181 words) by Anonymous
Rating: General Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Blink and you'll miss it Bishop/Carstairs
Characters: Emily Pollifax, Bishop (Mrs. Pollifax), Mr. Carstairs, Jack Harkness

“Since you mention it, there was something else,” she admitted. “I’d like you both to come to my Christmas party this year.”  [With gate-crashing by the unstoppable Jack Harkness.]

As Bishop says, "If her Christmas parties are anything like her fruitcakes, we won't recover for days."  Entirely in character and charming all round.  It's worth noting that this is evidently early enough in the continuity that Cyrus has not yet appeared.

Trixie Belden Mysteries
Honey Trap (3649 words) by Anonymous
Rating: General Audiences
Warning: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Trixie Belden/Jim Frayne
Characters: Trixie Belden, Jim Frayne, Honey Wheeler, Dan Mangan

Growing up is all about figuring out what you want.

Definitely a grown-up take on the series characters, but it manages to balance the mature aspects of the subject matter with a narrative voice that retains the essential idealism of the original books.  And it's very much about Trixie taking the lead in both her professional and personal lives.

Warehouse 13/Brave (2012)
Where Bear? (2224 words) by Anonymous
Rating: General Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Myka Bering/Helena "H. G." Wells
Characters: Myka Bering, Helena "H. G." Wells, Pete Lattimer

"Why are we freezing our asses off in Scotland? In the middle of winter?"

"Because Claudia got a ping from an archaeological expedition working out here.  And because we don't want anyone else running off into the Scottish highlands because demon bears are chasing them."

I'm only peripherally literate in Warehouse 13, but the fusion here is utterly and hilariously brilliant.  And the resolution is a thing of beauty.


Wicked Girls (album) - Seanan McGuire/Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis
No Longer a Friend of Narnia (646 words) by Anonymous
Rating: General Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Susan Pevensie

Susan refuses to tell fairytale stories.

A concise and intriguing "problem of Susan" story that neatly and elegantly reframes the issues raised by The Last Battle in what one might describe as the "problem of Aslan".  Very well conceived and executed.

Zorro (TV 1990)
My Father's Pride (2503 words) by Anonymous
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Zorro, Alejandro de la Vega

An attack leads to a severely wounded Fox and interesting revelations.

I'm a Zorro fan of long standing, but only a recent viewer of the 1990 series; this, though, gets the Diego/Alejandro relationship in that show totally right -- and manages to use it in the service of a plot that one can easily imagine having turned up in canon had the series gone another season or so.  Lovely.