smartlike | Yuletide Recs, Part 2 (M-Z)

Second set of Yuletide recs, M-Z.

The Mindy Project:

skate night
Danny stops mid-step when he realizes she's filming him, face settling into Glare Number 4: 'Mindy doing a thing'. "Seriously, you're filming this? I'll leave you there."

Excellent Mindy - love the tangents and the cataloging of Danny's facial expressions. Cute holiday themed realization moment ficlet.

Ten Thousandth Try
“Don’t laugh at me, my life is very dramatic,” she said, laughing anyway.

Besides being totally adorable and very very Mindy, I adore this take on the Groundhog Day trope - I've never seen anyone be so thoughtful about how long this repeated day really lasts. Such a great take on one of my fav story tropes.

Ocean's movies:

Showing Your Hand
He wore the aggravated expression of a man who had recently seen the interior of LAX and was preoccupied with regretting all the decisions in his life that had led him to that point.

Great Danny and Rusty banter and the way they understand one another that verges on mind-reading and fun hints at cons completed and planned.

Perks of Being a Wallflower:

The Only Time I Feel Good Falling
Weightless on THC and hypothermia and the tone this boy is using to speak to him, Patrick just looks at Brad. Feeling something he’s pretty sure is hope.

The language in this is lovely - the time intercuts work perfectly and I love the use of the second person. Really captures the push/pull of this relationship and all the complications.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead:

Four Walls
Rosencrantz seems perfectly at his ease, sprawled stark-naked on the bed, counting the swirls in the plaster of the ceiling. His lips move just slightly with every count. It would be a more fruitful exercise, Guildenstern thinks, if the ceiling were not entirely comprised of swirls in plaster.

This is so perfectly in the tone of the source both with the dialogue and the general meta.

The Westing Game:

The Theodorakis Guide to the Heirs of North America
“It’s not something I talk about,” Judge Ford says. Her voice is still calm and cool. They could be discussing Doug’s track career instead of the things that scare them.

Chris as the observer done so perfectly. True to the tone of the book.