🎊 MONTHLY FIC ROUND-UP 🎊
The fics I’ve read and enjoyed for the month of December 2025. Reminder: This list features any and all ratings and themes. Please look at tags and warnings on ao3 before reading.
Fandoms included:
Project Hail Mary
The Murderbot Diaries
Heated Rivalry/ Game Changes Series
The Hunger Games/ Sunrise on the Reaping
DC (Batfamily)
Star Trek
Project Hail Mary
The Long Journey Home by HeartAway
Hail Mary Counter @hailmarytracker · 12 hrs Days since last contact with Hail Mary: 9,716 🗨 1 ⇄ 2 ♡ 5
It's been nearly 27 years since the Hail Mary departed. When the ISS detects a signal in the far off solar system, hope begins to grow, even as mysteries start to unravel and the universe becomes a little smaller.
outside consultant by notAleks
“No,” Grace answered once his brain was back in gear. “No, no. I, um. I work for Stratt.” Watney’s expression shifted. He was still glaring, but the set of his eyebrows had changed. “World dictator Eva Stratt?”
the crew of the hail mary will be experiencing foreign terrain and challenges, out in the wilds of space exploration without help — like no-one before. well, almost no-one. Stratt can think of one person who’s up to the task of training the crew, whether he wants to be or not. and he came back from the ‘wilds’ of mars a few years back.
can you hear me, question? by notAleks
"You are okay, Grace, question?" I ask. Grace doesn't reply. Their eyes flick up to me, unfocused. They open their mouth to reply but no words come out.
grace has a tonic-clonic seizure. rocky is NOT alright.
First Impressions by ladylapislazuli
It’s not one of those things you tell your new alien friend. That they’re cute.
The Murderbot Diaries
Protocol Error by jottingprosaist (jane_potter)
SecUnit 3 experiences its first 100 hours without a governor module.
The first 10 hours were spent recovering 1.0 from alien hostiles. Those turn out to have been the easy hours. At least Three had protocol to cover some of that situation. Now SecUnits 1 and 2 are inoperative, 1.0 has blocked it, Perihelion terrifies it, and Three is alone.
Guard Shack by SeeMaree
A house for a SecUnit just doesn't need all that useless human stuff. So why bother installing it? (The Preservation building code seems to disagree.) But when Dr Mensah offers Murderbot a chance to build it's own place on her property, you better believe that it's only putting in the really important stuff, (like giant display surfaces) and none of the useless and gross things. (Like toilets.)
Heated Rivalry/ Game Changes Series
The Montréal Voyageurs Report by nineteenohtwo
Part 4 of Hit Post
ESPN ✅ @espn
With a new #24, the Montreal Voyageurs are finally ready to forget Shane Hollander
but when the sun came up by moonsock
Shane finds a new family in Ottawa. It just takes him a bit.
you know this moment, don’t you? (time is strangely calm now) by barnes_romzanov
It’s dark, and Ilya’s not quite sure where he is. His entire body is numb, shoes soaking wet from trudging lazily through the snow. His nose is running. His lips are chapped.
Ilya wondered how long ago it had clicked- when Shane had realized that Ilya wormed his way into this country and tricked the Hollanders into caring for him, then returned the favor by botching their language and leaving a trail of mess in his wake. How long his Canadian politeness and golden heart had hidden its disdain before Ilya had finally broken him.
He still can't help but wonder if that will be part of his punishment- being doomed to miss him in death, too.
or: Ilya’s mostly been able to cope with the fact that he’ll never be able to articulate himself fully in this country- but he’s also never been good at talking about feelings in the first place.
"I'm tired" is the best he's got. It definitely doesn't capture what's going on in his head, and Shane can't read minds.
please leave a message by Ravenesta
Sarah Does anyone have the number for Shane's girl from Boston? I feel bad that they've been seeing each other for this long and we've never added her here.
Jackie Oh good point! Let me ask Hayden.
Jackie has added Lily to the conversation
Lily what what is this
Or: Ilya Rozanov is, apparently, one of the girls.
it started with a whisper by gurlsrool
Scott: I’ve been getting asked if it’s me. I considered denying but if we all deny and one person doesn’t, that sort of gives their identity away and I’m not sure they want that. Ilya: Everyone thinks is me. My agent asked if I want to comment too Scott: Wait, it's not you? Ilya: Maybe 🤔 Or maybe not 🤪 Eric: What?
Or: When Adrian Dela Cruz reveals he dated an NHL player, chaos and damage control ensue. A story told through texts, tweets, and one pretentious Variety article.
Fanning the Flames by cjr2
The Voyageurs ask Shane to join FanMail in order to foster a better connection with fans. Internet sleuths start to notice some interesting details in the background of Shane’s videos, and then the internet does...what the internet does.
Or Shane and Ilya are granted an opportunity to come out on their own terms. Sort of. And in they do it in a very Ilya way. (Surprisingly, it is Shane’s idea)
A Want and a Need by Kethra
Ilya heads to the cottage early for his second summer there only to end up sick. Since Shane can't be there he calls in reinforcements.
two-man advantage by dykeries
Two-Man Advantage: At Home with Hockey’s Biggest Power Couple by Matthew Cooper Their on-ice rivalry turned into the NHL’s most unexpected love story. Now, Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov say they have no plans to slow down.
the GQ profile fic.
a farmers market adventure by ingberry
A video of Ilya and Yuna at the farmers market goes viral.
Learning to Fly by WriteSmart
Yuna has let go of a lot in her life, including her own dream to play professional hockey. But that's alright; she has Shane and David and they have built a storybook legacy together. Then Ilya Rosanov gets hurt and suddenly Shane's calling her asking if they'll go pick up his archrival from the hospital.
the cockroach of your heart by Anonymous
Ilya died, yes, but then the doctors saved him. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the ambulance, three electric shocks, two emergency surgeries, twenty-six units of blood. Ilya died, but then he came back.
If only Shane could get his subconscious to understand that.
Visions from the Future by womanlypanther
A continuation of Shane and Ilya's story post-Long Game.
Starting with Canada facing Russia in the 2026 Winter Olympics, and including all of the moments that come before and after that.
@MLHTracker by summerblood
MLH Tracker @MLHTracker rozanov81 (Ilya Rozanov) started following 3 and unfollowed 0: ✅ montrealmetros (The Montreal Metros) ✅ shanehollanderofficial (Shane Hollander) ✅ metrosworst (Worst Metros Plays) ⏎ 55 ⟳ 39 ♡ 732 rozanov defender @gremlinroz ... alright who told ilya about the mlh tracker ⏎ 0 ⟳ 10 ♡ 63 lea @rozanovsss getting ready for the game on thursday i see... masterful trolling ⏎ 5 ⟳ 1 ♡ 37
The history of Hollanov, primarily as seen through the MLH Tracker on Twitter.
Young and Hopelessly Smitten by jukoist
This year marks thirteen year Shane Hollander's third summer at Coach Marakov's elite hockey training camp. In attendance for the first time: Ilya Rozanov, visiting from Russia. Shane isn't the most sociable, and Ilya's English isn't the greatest, yet the unlikely duo soon become the best of friends.
It's just one summer, but it makes a world of difference.
short way home by latertoday
A few months after Ilya joins the Centaurs, his apartment gets a gas leak. It's a perfectly inconvenient time to be out of housing, but luckily, Yuna and David come to the rescue. Now, Ilya just has to survive a week living with in-laws that may or may not hate his guts.
As it turns out, his expectations could not have been more subverted.
The Hunger Games/ Sunrise on the Reaping
The sun won't rise by Alwayssomeonebetter
A silly prank between the Everdeen-Mellark children and Haymitch has unbeknownst side affects.
A vial of what they think is a bitter Capitol era drink leaves Haymitch sixteen and terrified, stuck at the moment that he became a victor.
Katniss finds herself a reluctant caretaker of the semi feral teenager, wrangling her own demons as they unwrap the tragedy that makes up her old mentor.
DC (Batfamily)
To Elude a Robin’s Call by Cieleniti
“You made the wrong call, and that cost you the mission.” Bruce thundered “I expected you to lead, to work with me while I’m recovering, not go against our preset plans. You should have kept in control.”
“Maybe I’m done being in control, Bruce!”
or: After an argument with Bruce, Tim unexpectedly finds himself going nonverbal. The rest of the family are there for the fallout.
Star Trek
The rebel and the nerd, by Moreta1848, (podfic) by cookiemom6067
Inspired by this fake boyfriend ad. Spock decides to make his problems with Sarek worse by bringing home a punk human boyfriend his dad will hate.
Jim swears he can be that guy. But can he, when deep down he's just a stack of books with legs?