![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fic_in_a_box_mod posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
ficinaboxRec Post
This post is for anyone to post recommendations from the 2024 collection! There are currently 1267 works in the collection, so it's a lot to go through and also a lot that could be highlighted! You can choose to post things for whatever reason you want, and can post as many different recs as you want. There is no minimum number of recs that need to be in a post, so if you have one thing you want to highlight you can post that one! You also may post anonymously.
Your posts need to have some indication of what you're reccing (so not just a list of links), but otherwise how much information you include is up to you! Suggestions of things to include:- Work Link
- Fandom
- Title
- Medium
- Category (e.g. m/m)
- Warnings
- Relationship or characters
- Tags
- Summary
- Why you're reccing it (or, alternatively, if you're posting a list on a theme, include the theme/trope/kink at the top of the list!)
On December 12th we'll be making a reading list of any recs here that wish to be included. If you wish for your recommendations to be included in that reading list, please have "Include in final reading list" somewhere in your post. If you would like your rec list to be titled something in specific, please give the title in the same spot! Otherwise it will be titled "Rec #".
A Little Adventure
Date: 2024-12-01 06:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-12-01 06:04 am (UTC)Fandom: Outer Wilds (Video Game)
Title: Mining Site 2 Field Report — Presence of Native Life Forms, and How to Protect Them
Medium: In-Universe Field Report
Category: Gen
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationship or characters: Coleus, Cycad
Why you're reccing it: A not insignificant amount of this fic's wordcount is devoted to things like listing the tested pH value of a particular body of water, and it literally moved me to tears. If that doesn't convince to give this fic a shot, I don't know what will.
Please include in final reading list!
Cal/Fritz FIAB stories
Date: 2024-12-01 06:21 am (UTC)"Fragile Flesh and Steel" https://archiveofourown.org/works/59016454/chapters/150451927
Dialogue-only fic, 2.8K words
"Appendices in re Cal/Fritz". https://archiveofourown.org/works/59027221/chapters/150658090
Mixed-media (including some heraldry logos)
no subject
Date: 2024-12-01 09:26 am (UTC)https://archiveofourown.org/works/59050825
As the title suggests, this is an in-universe paper pertaining to the Temporal Pokémon Dialga, time travel, and its effects on Lucas, who has traveled with it through time extensively. It's about 3.2k words and is quite an insightful rearead.
Please include in final reading list.
no subject
Date: 2024-12-02 05:07 pm (UTC)Fandom: Original Work
Title: per my last email
Medium: Emails
Relationship or characters: IT Guy & Sentient Printers He Cares For
Absolutely DELIGHTFUL email epistolary building a story around a world where some printers have become sentient. Revolves around their IT manager caretaker, legitimately heartwarming! Funny, too, and extremely well done.
Please include in final rec list!
no subject
Date: 2024-12-05 12:53 am (UTC)Please include in final rec list!
no subject
Date: 2024-12-06 11:42 pm (UTC)Fandom: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series)
Title: written by the victors
Medium: In-Universe Documents, In-Universe RPF
Category: Gen
Character: AZ (Pokemon)
Tags: Kalos-chihou | Kalos Region (Pokemon), Kalos War, Characters Are in Fandom
Why you're reccing it: Brilliant use of the mediums and fantastic parody of online fandom. It gives enough information to be interesting and make you wish you could see even more. Also my blorbo's cameo is really funny.
Please include in the final reading list! :)
no subject
Date: 2024-12-07 08:46 pm (UTC)Work Link: https://archiveofourown.org/chapters/152806072
Fandom: Dune (Movies)
Title: bad guy
Medium: Fanvid
Category (e.g. m/m): Gen
Warnings: Canon-typical violence
Relationship or characters: Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen
Why you're reccing it: This is a great Feyd-Rautha character study in that it highlights all the things that make him such a fascinating bad guy. Incredible editing and fantastic use of the song!
no subject
Date: 2024-12-08 10:55 pm (UTC)https://archiveofourown.org/works/60104242
General Audiences
No Archive Warnings Apply
Gen
Sunless Sea
Characters: The Tireless Mechanic (Sunless Sea)Maybe's Daughter (Sunless Sea)The Genial Magician (Sunless Sea)
The POV character hits an engineers' club in the small hours of the morning to kill the time. Calm and atmospheric worldbuilding IF with lots of vivid descriptions and nice little interactions with a few other characters.
no subject
Date: 2024-12-08 10:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-12-10 08:06 pm (UTC)the dark is singing songs, Hermitcraft
14.7k, Etho/Bdubs
An deep sea horror AU where Bdubs is a researcher in a submersible and one of the Etho android line was assigned to his team. This is haunting and fantastic. The way the tension builds is so good. I love the worldbuilding with the androids and the water and the characters and the slow build of the relationship between Bdubs and Etho.
make hope from every small disaster, Hermitcraft
2k, Scar & Grian, gen
A Borrowers AU with indoors Borrower Scar and hurt outdoors Borrower Grian. I know nothing about Borrowers but I enjoyed this a lot, I loved the character voices and hints of worldbuilding and the h/c.
You Might Wanna See A Doctor About That, Dream SMP
Technoblade, gen, in-universe medical report
I really enjoy this look at the voices and the comments by both Techno and the doctor and the form itself.
when at last we knew, Star Wars
11k, Luke Skywalker & Mace Windu, gen
I really enjoyed this AU, I really liked both Luke and Mace here and the meeting between them was great, and the resulting changes.
Making Amends, Star Wars
4.1k, gen, Luke Skywalker & Huyang
Luke repairing and then talking with Ahsoka's droid. I enjoyed this a lot, especially all the things Huyang did not say, and Luke learning more things about the past.
A Knot in a History of Rope, Naruto
4.5k, Tenten&Gai, gen
Tenten time travel! I really liked Tenten here and her approach to realizing she travelled back in time and her relationship with Gai who understandably does not know what to make of her.
Also, I am biased so not sure if I can include them here but both of my gifts were so good:
somewhere a clock is ticking, Secret Life SMP
10.9k, Grian & Cleo & Etho, gen
Secret Life in space - and specifically the boogey army episode except here it is a nanovirus that infected the station and Grian is trying to escape with his life. The worldbuilding is very smart and cool, the character voices are excellent, the mix of serious and banter is great, the writing is so good and so is the pacing, many feelings. (Do mind the "ambiguous ending" tag!)
How to tell if Etho likes you? Asking for a friend, Hermitcraft
1.2k, Etho & Scar & Ensemble
This is sweet and touching and all the answers and interactions are great and I love the ending.
no subject
Date: 2024-12-11 07:41 pm (UTC)Work Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/60567988
Fandom: Jurassic Park
Title: Living Fossils
Medium: Fic + in-universe article/interview/social-media response (9,137 words)
Category, Relationships/Characters: Gen, OC Human Researchers & Dinosaurs
My Summary: The Jurassic Park islands have become nature preserves (10+ years post-movies), and researchers and a documentary crew come to one of the islands to film the dinosaurs and learn more about their behavior.
Why I'm reccing it: Well-written/conceived and wonderfully captures all the best things about about good nature documentaries, with lots of cute-baby-dinosaur scenes and interesting animal behavior + naturalist theorizing. Perfectly scratches that 'science nerd' itch! Accessible without canon knowledge.
Work Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/59876719
Fandom: Original Work
Title: My teammate [20M] and I [21M] are straight, but we pretended to be BFs as a joke. Now it’s over and I’m heartbroken.
Medium: Reddit Post + Replies (13,455 words)
Category, Relationships/Characters: M/M, Dudebro with Internalized Homophobia Who Lost a Bet/Fake BF He Must Introduce to His Friends
My Summary: An oblivious footballer posts on Reddit about how he and his "bro" have tons of gay sex, while still insisting the whole time that they're straight.
Why I'm reccing it: Hilarious OC voice and a brilliant exaggeration of that one obliviously-closeted guy that everyone meets at some point or other. The thing that truly makes this fic shine is how affable yet clueless the narrator is that what he's doing is really REALLY gay, and the superhuman justifications he comes up with for how it's still "just bros being bros", while still being likeable. The fic is the DREAM trashfire Reddit post that you can't look away from.
Work Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/60309373
Fandom: Dark City (1998)
Title: There Is Nothing Beyond
Medium: Fic + in-universe documents & internet posts (7,562 words)
Category, Relationships/Characters: Gen, Worldbuilding, The Strangers
My Summary: The backstory of how the City came into being, how the first humans were abducted into it, and how the Strangers' experiment evolved over time.
Why I'm reccing it: A really fascinating deep-dive into how the set-up for the movie happened, with lots of creepy details (particularly the alien-abductions as viewed via an internet forum). Captures the eerie wrongness of the movie in several different ways, through different narrators and mediums.
Work Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/59700817
Fandom: Murdle (Video Game)
Title: The Case of the Matchmaking Murdlers
Medium: Logic Puzzle (1,158 words)
Category, Relationships/Characters: M/M, Inspector Irratino/Deductive Logico
My Summary: The murdlers team up to set up Logico and Irratino on a series of dates.
Why I'm reccing it: Beautifully captures the Murdle style and tells a great story through the cards (especially the villain motives), logic clues, and follow-ups. A fluffy first-date fic cleverly transposed into the logic-puzzle medium.
Work Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/60527065
Fandom: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Title: "The First Thai Skater to—" - Phichit Chulanont
Medium: In-Universe Interview (1,650 words)
Category, Relationships/Characters: Gen, Phichit Chulanont & Yuuri Katsuki
Author's Summary: Join us as we catch up with Phichit Chulanont, who became the first Thai skater to win a Junior Grand Prix medal this season - and won a lot of our hearts along the way.
Why I'm reccing it: Really good use of the interview format! It captures Phichit's character voice really well, while also telling the story of how Phichit and Yuuri's friendship began and grew.
Work Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/60923413
Fandom: Ace Attorney
Title: Kintsugi
Medium: Fic (1,081 words)
Category, Relationships/Characters: Gen, Franziska von Karma & Sebastian Debeste
My Summary: Franziska comforts Sebastian about how to deal with fathers who turn out to be murderers.
Why I'm reccing it: Franziska's voice is really well written and shines throughout. The author does a great job at imbuing all her thoughts and actions with her perfectionist worldview, while also showing how she's grown as a person.
Work Link: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Fic_In_A_Box_2024/works/60962314
Fandom: Original Work
Title: [Art] Tiny Witch With a Tiny Familiar
Medium: Botanical art
Author's Summary: An autumn witch clad in autumn leaves.
Why I'm reccing it: Really creative use of materials (leaves, flowers, etc.) to create absolutely beautiful art.
Work Link: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Fic_In_A_Box_2024/works/60392635
Fandom: Original Work
Title: Bless Our Home
Medium: Cross Stitch Pattern
Author's Summary: A wall piece for the cottage of Agnes and her wife the Dark Mistress of the Forest.
Why I'm reccing it: For the giggle I got out of seeing this after reading the author's summary. Exactly as advertised, yet surprisingly delightful at the same time!
no subject
Date: 2024-12-11 07:44 pm (UTC)The Icy Wasteland, or Excerpts From an Unnamed Archaeologist's Journal
https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Fic_In_A_Box_2024/works/59102914
Original Work
2k fic + art, journal
Exploring ruins of eldritch horror in Antarctica
MAGICAL GIRLS GAMES
https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Fic_In_A_Box_2024/works/59393023
Original work
3k fic + dress-up game + card game reskin
Magical girls saving (or endangering) the world with the power of music and harmony!
Sightings of a Maglepie in the Summer of '98
https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Fic_In_A_Box_2024/works/60277327
Harry Potter (Luna/Cho)
1k fic + handwritten version
Luna attempts to write an essay and Cho provides some feedback, very cute.
A Mechanic's Sketchbook
https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Fic_In_A_Box_2024/works/61070050
Original work
Art + 160 words of sketchbook transcription
Cyborg mercenary/underground mechanic sketches
no subject
Date: 2024-12-12 02:26 am (UTC)https://archiveofourown.org/works/60480163
The Locked Tomb Series - Tamsyn Muir
Aiglamene/Pelleamena Novenarius
1k fic
So tragic and filled with longing! A very effective and economical fic with really great dialogue.
no subject
Date: 2024-12-12 05:12 am (UTC)Fandom: Interview with the Vampire (TV 2022)
Title: In Delusions of Increasing Grandeur
Medium: Social media posts (primarily tumblr), art, in-universe RPF
Category: Multi
Warnings: Creator Chose Not to Use Archive Warnings
Relationship or characters: Primarily an original character writing about Armand as portrayed in Daniel's in-universe book, which includes Armand/Marius and Armand/Daniel
Tags: Unconventional Format, Mixed Media, Traditional Art, Digital Art, Metafiction, In-Universe Meta/Essay, In-Universe RPF (RPS Technically), POV Outsider, Ambiguously Reliable Narrator, Playing the World's Longest Game of Telephone, Devil's Minion Era Happened (Interview with the Vampire TV 2022), Social Media, Art History, Religious Imagery & Symbolism, Muslim Armand (Vampire Chronicles), Gender Issues, Extensive Discussion of Upsetting Topics Including...Slavery, Childhood Sexual Abuse, Forced Prostitution, forced conversion, Period-Typical Racism, Period-Typical Homophobia, HIV/AIDS Crisis, and more!
Summary: Obviously, truth is stranger than fiction, and there’s always going to be edge cases in the real world, but for our purposes: just how realistic is Armand’s tragic backstory?
Judging by the number of retweets/reblogs on this post and others like it, fannish opinion seems to be “not very”. But honestly? It’s not that far-fetched.
Or: a fannish academic does a deep dive into the most controversial character in Daniel Molloy’s new novel.
Why you're reccing it: This is a fantastic exploration of Armand's potential backstories (particularly within the art world), the outsider POV is delightful, and the art is beautiful.
Please include in final rec list!
no subject
Date: 2024-12-12 06:46 am (UTC)1. My gifts were phenomenal!!!
Work Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/60313405
Fandom: Golden Kamuy
Title: cat meme collection
Description/why rec: As it says on the tin, a collection of art where Ogata (the sociopathic assassin sniper extraordinaire) is subbed for popular cat memes (which capture his soul wonderfully).
Work Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/59264503
Fandom: Golden Kamuy
Title: Fair Play
Description/why rec: In which Ogata deals with a canonical personal tragedy like a champ - and visits the fair. Feels like a delightful missing scene from canon and really captures a complex and atypical character well.
Work Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/59890447
Fandom: Dr. Stone
Title: above this sceptred sway
Description/why rec: You know that thing Tsukasa and Senkuu do in canon where they're ideological enemies and literally at war and yet they work beautifully together and trust and complement each other utterly? This is an excellent canon divergence that remains true to their canon... all that. The plot kept me guessing and the character interactions kept me grinning.
2. Some art I really liked!
Work Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/59177995
Fandom: Hamlet - Shakespeare
Title: Hamlet Costume Designs
Description/why rec: I found these historically accurate designs so cool and eye opening. I feel like I got a glimpse of fashions I couldn't have imagined.
Work Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/59067808
Fandom: Original Work
Title: better kept in secret
Relationship: pirate captain/navy captain nemesis
Description/why rec: This art is just stunning! Romantic, stylish, vivid.
Work Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/60962314
Fandom: Original Work
Title: [Art] Tiny Witch With a Tiny Familiar
Description/why rec: Such a creative use of nature: leaves and flowers and light and shadow.
3. There were so many bangers of interactive fiction!!
Work Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/60244567
Fandom: Original Work
Title: THE WOODS ARE LOVELY
Category: F/F
Description/why rec: This was creepy and outright scary in turns, very effective and immersive. A story of codependency and horror.
Work Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/60548581
Fandom: SCP Foundation
Title: Just Another Day in Paradise
Description/why rec: If the above made good use of the IF format for horror, this one uses the format to really make the time loop sink in. Fascinating, then depressing. I enjoyed the writing style, spare but evocative.
Work Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/60750880
Fandom: Severance (TV)
Relationship: Peter Kilmer/Mark Scout
Title: Assigned Restorative Therapy Session for Mark S.
Description/why rec: Participate in a virtual
punishmentenrichment module at Lumon! I'm impressed with how well this captures the corporate voice from canon, and felt like I got a good dose of how the characters feel under the company's constant, patronizing control.4. And one more for good measure that didn't fit in the above categories!
Work Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/60914662
Fandom: Original Work
Relationship: Desperate Supervillain Whose Life is in Danger/Superhero They Reluctantly Go to For Help
Title: An Uninvited Guest
Description/why rec: A classic superhero/supervillain adventure with well-developed characters, fun banter, and a mission to boot. Funny, charming, and just an enjoyable read.
Please include in final reading list.
no subject
Date: 2024-12-12 04:06 pm (UTC)Someone Say a Hail Mary for This House Supernatural
3.7k, Sam/Dean
I love a good haunted house story and this works on both a creepy lowkey horror level of an endless house tailored to Sam's innermost psyche, and as a throwback to season one before the Winchesters really got battered up. Beautiful and evocative descriptions as well.
Assigned Restorative Therapy Session for Mark S. - Severance
IF, Gen
Creepy little IF game that really nails the cold corporate feel/loop of canon, complete with the condescending vibe.
it's time to light the light Tortall - Tamora Pierce
4.4k, Kel/Neal
I haven't thought about this canon in at least a decade, but this is a lovely exploration of Kel as Knight vs Kel as Girl in how she relates to those around her. More than that, it's just funny as well with Kel's trademark dry internal sense of humour, as well as being sexy and fun.
knuckleguard The Locked Tomb Series | Gideon the Ninth Series - Tamsyn Muir
1.1K Gideon/Ianthe
Fun and funny snapshot of Gideon and Ianthe both outside of their respective boxes, and a sideways look at Harrow. I really enjoyed just how much the author managed to pack into the wordcount.
Hamlet Costume Designs. Hamlet - Shakespeare -
Art, Hamlet, Ophelia
Love these drawings and the attendant historical details of the cloth and the construction of what Hamlet and Ophelia might be wearing. The details are amazing.
Art, fic, logic puzzle recs
Date: 2024-12-12 10:20 pm (UTC)https://archiveofourown.org/works/59927560
Narvi's Journal
The One Ring | Lord of the Rings Roleplaying
Underappreciated and very pretty in-universe sketchbook that really looks authentic
https://archiveofourown.org/works/59694022
[art] From the Sketchbook of Simon Tam
Firefly
Beautiful in-universe sketchbook!
https://archiveofourown.org/works/59874454
Great Master Liu's Bestiary
The Savescumming Villain's Tool-Assisted Speedrun (IIRC)
Beautiful and creepy in-universe bestiary art!
https://archiveofourown.org/chapters/153605506
One Hundred Swords
The Scamvillain's Speedscum Reloading Strats (I think)
Someone didn't have to make an animatic for FIAB, but they did, oh my god, and it looks incredible.
https://archiveofourown.org/chapters/153359545
Trio
Pokemon
Beautifully polished character art/trading card game art
FIC
https://archiveofourown.org/chapters/155309530
let me in let me in let me in
Delicious in Dungeon
Short but incredibly sweet (so to speak...) Farcille post-canon fic. Gloriously morbid and evocative imagery.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/59790202
Letters From a Younger Sister
Sunless Sea
Wonderful epistolary that hits hard if you're familiar with canon. Those reading canon-blind can still appreciate the eerie beauty of it.
LOGIC PUZZLES
https://archiveofourown.org/works/60282529
By All Their Powers Combined
OW
I really had fun with this puzzle, it's fun to solve and incredibly entertaining when you find out what the answers are.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/60305413
Don't Solve This Puzzle
There Is No Antimemetics Division (SCP Foundation verse)
Fantastic concept that works so well in-universe... I loove gamification serving narrative and I loved the idea of using puzzles to store antimemetic hazards or otherwise dangerous information. This was the first puzzle I tried solving so I found it quite challenging but I got there in the end! Also, I can only recommend this creator's podfics. (Here's hoping this will age well.)
https://archiveofourown.org/works/59027668
the end is only the beginning; the beginning is only the end
There Is No Antimemetics Division (SCP Foundation verse)
Another TINAD puzzle that's closely rooted in specific canon events and more about solving a time loop of sorts. Another delightful addition to the canon.
I strongly recommend checking out this creator's other TINAD work, too! (Here's hoping this will age well 2x.)
no subject
Date: 2024-12-13 12:07 am (UTC)Fandom: Goblin Emperor
Ship: Original Characters & Maia
Why I'm recommending it: Fantastic short fic that feels like it fits beautifully within the world of Goblin Emperor, giving a citizen pov on the opening of the Wisdom Bridge. Made me make this face: 🥺.
Work: hot and cold
Fandom: Pocket Monsters: X & Y | Pokemon X & Y Versions
Ship: Pachira | Malva/Zumi | Siebold
Why I'm recommending it: delightful slice of in-world RPF that is a joy to anyone who remembers just starting out in a fandom, posting your first fic and getting wonderful comments that fill you with a resolution to keep writing— and one guy who's really mad for some reason? why?
Work: Are We Having Fun Yet?
Fandom: Original Work
Ship: Dudebro with Internalized Homophobia Who Lost a Bet/Fake BF He Must Introduce to His Friends
Why I'm recommending it: Have you ever wanted to claw at your face and scream "you are SO STUPID just KISS HIM" for 6k? Check this fic out.
Work: per my last email
Fandom: Original Work
Ship: IT Guy & Sentient Printers He Cares For
Why I'm recommending it: This fic made me, a person with a years-long feud with the office printer, mend my ways and say the impossible words "i love the printers".
Work: If You Do The Cooking By The Book
Fandom: Dream SMP
Ship: Technoblade & Phil Watson
Why I'm recommending it: So I clicked on this one because I like recipes and it's a recipe book, and my slow horrified dawning realization of where the "cannibalism" tag came in is recorded in my increasingly keysmash comments on the fic. Important context if you try to read this one canon-blind: technoblade and phil are best friends, and technoblade is usually depicted as a large anthro boar.