#JLU otp nostalgia is for always

[cactusspatz]

September recs

Whelp, I've started my annual fall DCU binge. I don't know what it is about this time of year, but every October for the last three years has been Batfamily Time in the Spatz household. I just started a little early this year!

Five DCU fics above the cut, plus four more DCU and five other fandom recs underneath!

DCU

Like a Hinge, Like a Wing by Ultrageekatlarge/ @bonesbuckleup​

The problem is that Tim’s spent the past month or so slowly getting murdered.

(AKA, An AU where Jason never went to Ethiopia, and Tim takes a different road home to the Waynes.)

SO GREAT. I went absolutely feral about this fic, which I have already read twice and have open in a tab for reccing so I'll...probably go read it again after this. Just A++ Tim h/c where he's being poisoned for his trust fund after his parents die, and tries desperately to rescue himself before finally reaching Bruce and telling him he needs Batman's help, and then the fallout of all that. Wonderful!

Send to All by kerosceene

I, ___________________________, hereby acknowledge that this form represents my wishes should I contract phytoaphrodisiac-induced delirium (hereafter referred to as “PAID”) during engagements with or while apprehending Dr. Pamela Lillian Isley (“Poison Ivy”).

The bats have a sex pollen release form. Because of course they do.

Hilarious and extremely chaotic Batfamily epistolary goodness, and Barbara is the absolute best and does not deserve this shit.

two against the world by carolinaa / @officialratprince​

“I’m Tim,” he says, though introducing himself to a puppy makes him flush in embarrassment. “Are you hungry?”

The dog blinks at him, all scared eyes.

“Where’s your family?” Tim asks. “Did they leave you?”

(Or: Tim Drake finds a friend.)

This is a sweet and achy AU, but Tim is also a feral little goblin boy, so it's basically perfect.

Immersion by @smilebackwards​

Father’s Day is going to be a disaster. What precisely is Tim supposed to get Bruce? The man has everything—cars, planes, a space station—and millions of dollars to buy anything he doesn’t.

Or: Tim is this close to calling Bruce ‘Dad’ when life takes an unexpected turn.

The final part of the Surveillance series (my beloved)! Absolutely love this story where something objectively miraculous happens to Tim but it is actually The Worst, because that's how Tim's life is. <3

Aftermath by ivy_and_ivory

Now: Batman is in Paris, pulled there by a case that extends beyond Gotham’s borders, when circumstances lead him to a badly injured Red Hood – who might hold the key to Batman’s investigation.

Then: The Red Hood storms into Gotham, begins to stake his claim on the criminal underground, then abruptly disappears – but only after he breaks into Arkham Asylum and leaves the Joker dead in his own cell.

Or: A study of why Bruce couldn’t kill the Joker, what would happen if someone else could – and how you move on from the aftermath.

Really fascinating AU with some brilliant identity porn and wrenching Jason-Bruce interactions, plus a dash of casefile for your plotty pleasure.

More DCU recs under the cut, plus recs for Murderbot Diaries (more amnesia fic!!!), 9-1-1, Star Wars, and Biggles.

Missed Calls by nightwalker

Five times Jack Drake didn't answer his phone.

And one time he did, but it was already too late.

Mmm, tasty neglected!Tim h/c. (yes, I'm predictable, shhh)

Grilled Cheese by crumpetz

"Tim doesn’t step around Jason like he’s fielding landmines and he laughs at Jason’s jokes instead of flinching. Which Jason finds interesting, given that he’s definitely tried to kill the kid a couple times."

Tim and Jason have a bad fight, and then Tim gets really hurt on his way home right afterward.

This one's seriously whumpy, but vivid and intense with a fantastic Jason POV.

Instead of All the Colors That I Saw by SilverSkiesAtMidnight

Dick comes around to stand fully in front of him, keeping a steadying hand on Tim’s arm. “Just because you know you’re safe intellectually doesn’t mean you always feel safe,” he says softly. “It’s okay if you don’t feel safe.”

“But it’s not okay!” Tim bursts out. “Because if I don’t feel safe, then how is Jason supposed to feel safe? He shouldn’t have to feel uncomfortable just because my brain is screwed up!”

There’s a faint sound by the door, barely more than an intake of breath, and his eyes snap to the no-longer empty doorway.

Lovely, wrenching examination of Tim and Jason's relationship: the trials of loving your brother after he tried to murder you that one time.

Gotham CPS by ebjameston

A CPS agent gets sent to investigate a tip that Tim Drake has been abandoned by his parents and is living with the Red Hood. The CPS agent leaves with no Tim Drake, a date with Red Hood's lieutenant, and an intern who's promising to fix the IT systems at his office.

It's a weird day for Theo.

Bordering on cracky, but so fun! Until it punches you in the face with feelings, of course. Theo is a delight.

OTHER

If This Story Had A Title Then I Forgot by CompletelyDifferent (Murderbot, gen)

Murderbot is at a party.

This is not a normal state of affairs for SecUnits. Neither is the comfy clothes or the sitting or the way the humans keep smiling in its general direction. The smiling, it suspects, will stop, if/when they realise their SecUnit has suffered some sort of catastrophic glitch and has no idea where it is or the specifics of its current assignment.

So it's not going to let them find out.

I would just like to thank the universe/internet for bringing me all this great amnesia fic lately. And this one goes in the rare but delightful subcategory of 'characters who would 100% try to bluff their way through having amnesia a la John Mulaney'! Plus good portrayal of Murderbot's organic vs computer memory, and wonderful use of the Mensahs.

The Best Lie is a Truth (My Best Mask is My Face) by letmetellyouaboutmyfeels (9-1-1, Buck/Eddie)

The Buckleys are celebrating their 50th Anniversary, and Maddie and Buck are both expected to come. To take the heat off Maddie, Buck impulsively blurts out that he's seeing someone new.

Obviously, there's only one solution: bring Eddie as his fake boyfriend, pretend to be in love with him, and survive the weekend with minimal bloodshed. No problem, except for the, uh. "Pretend" part.

Oops.

A very classic fake dating setup, but the execution is perfect! I really loved how Buck and Eddie's support and partnership is so sharply contrasted with his parents' shittiness, plus there's some really great and necessary conversations that I can only hope happen in actual canon at some point.

Come from Over the Horizon by rosepetalfall / @islandbetweenrivers​ (Star Wars, gen)

They never stayed anywhere for long, so Luke and Leia both had spacer’s accents - an indeterminate amalgam of the blandly Core-adjacent tones of their holoschool lessons and Ben’s cut-glass Coruscanti, colored in at the edges by Outer Rim spaceport slang.

D'awww, chaotic Skywalker twins growing up together! And Rosie's writing is so good in the details - there's a vivid sense of familiarity and fondness in every interaction of their little family.

True Love's Kiss by thosenearandfarwars (Star Wars, Codywan)

Cody had never actually planned to tell Obi-Wan that he loved him. There was the war, their age difference, their difference in rank, the fact that Cody wasn’t really a person and Obi-Wan was too kind to let something like galactic prejudice against clones stop him from being his friend, and a half-dozen other logical, sound, well founded reasons he had in a spreadsheet titled “Reasons Why I Will Never Kiss or Kriff Obi-Wan.”

A T-rated, crack-treated-seriously fill for my Codywan Kiss Bingo square for "True Love's Kiss," featuring secret romance novel author and Space Excel wizard Marshal Commander Cody.

This is absurdly charming, with the crack premise balanced out by Cody's very pragmatic reactions to everything, and an adorable ending.

Something Old, Something New by @sholiofic​

In order to stay in Britain after the events of Biggles Buries a Hatchet, von Stalhein must wed a British subject.

I read this on a late-night plane trip and thus totally failed to leave a comment, sorry Sholio! The pining domesticity is FIERCELY good in this one, and the slow burn finely tuned - all their prickles and misunderstandings subsiding into a true partnership was so satisfying. Plus every time the ensemble showed up was warm and bubbly and perfect!