So, as I said a couple of weeks ago, I'm going to take part in this challenge where you post recs for the month of December. I'm not sure I'm actually going to be able to keep up with daily posts for a whole month, but I can sure try. Few things fill me with more excitement than proper fic recs. I still miss the golden days of fic reccing, back when crack_van or epic-recs were active on LJ. Anyway, the way I decided to play it is this: I'm going to try and do a different fandom each day (though I might do repeats for those fandoms I have more recs for); I'm also going to do a single story for The Pitt every day as that's my current fandom (and I haven't been this obsessed with a single fandom and pairing for years, lol); I'm also going to add podfic links whenever possible, because podfic makes everything better.

Veronica Mars

Rich Dirt by theohara. Logan/Veronica, spoilers for S1, technically, though this is an AU of Shelley Pomroy's party. 3K words. I can't believe I'm kicking off this challenge with a fic which is on LJ and actually still accessible. Lol. It's been over 20 years since this was posted. Maaaan, I'm a true Fandom Old. This fic is second-person narration which is something I usually abhor, please don't let it put you off? It's very good. There's a great podfic by knight_tracer (one of my fave podficcers, I just love her voice and accent!) here.

A Strange New Story Every Time by gyzym Logan/Veronica, futurefic, spoliers for the first three seasons only. Almost 20K. Veronica and Logan meet again in NYC, 10 years after the end of the original run. There's a tiny White Collar cameo, btw. Fantastic characterisation and the dialogue is * chef's kiss* perfect, the banter between these two. Also, the character have aged and thank God matured. Love a future fic that actually allows for character growth. Podfic (a collab!) is available here

The Pitt

Okay, this is mostly for those of you who haven't watched The Pitt yet, Noah Wyle's new medical show set in a Pittsburgh ER. If you haven't you totally should, it's the best tv I've watched in a long while, though of course I literally grew up with ER and John Carter was my first tv crush back when I was 12, lol. Still, what really stole my fannish heart is an unlikely and yet absolutely perfect pairing between two doctors: Frank Langdon, canonically known as ER Ken, a heartthrob, cocky, talented and very damaged fourth-year (senior) resident and just-starting-at-this-new-ER second-year resident Mel King, who is neurodivergent (probably autistic), kind, empathetic and such a darling. They have a mentor/mentee dynamic in canon but their chemistry is undeniable.

I'll get you started with an instant fandom classic for the pairing:2:00 AM by orphan_account. 8K words. Frank/Mel. “I don’t understand why you’re letting that asshole crash at your place,” Santos says, flopping back on the couch in the break room. “Seriously, Mel. There's a reason his wife kicked him out.” You can listen to it as a podfic here. Do not read this if you haven't watched the show yet, as it'll spoil a big character development point for Langdon that was a huge plot twist-. As I said, this is already considered a fandom classic even though The Pitt has been around for less than a year. It showcases Langdon and Mel's dynamic perfectly with great characterisation. It also features a lot of medicine and many of the other characters, it encapsulates pretty well what the show is all about while delivering grade-a shipping stuff.