(no subject)
Quick - Dearest friends who I can connect to the stories you wrote, I am not reccing you because despite the fact that I love your fics it makes me feel weird (also because I hate you, naturally <3). Also, when I had more stories I loved than I could deal with, I limited myself to those with low comments. I still posted this long before I covered everything I loved, though, because of basic tiredness!
The story written for me is asterisk’d and awesome :D.
Things with double asterisks you can read without knowing canon at all (though you can read the others, too :P. UNLESS IT IS QUEEN’S THIEF THEY WILL SPOIL YOU FOREVER.)
Fire & Hemlock - Diana Wynne Jones
like the castle in its corner *
Oh my goodness, I love everything about this fic. I don’t know how to explain it in a way that would make sense to someone who has not read Fire & Hemlock (in which case, GO. READ IT. THIS FIC IS WAITING FOR YOU), but basically there is a minor character named Ann. You never learn much about Ann except that she is kind and extremely good at remembering things, and practical, and is musical - and related to the villain of the piece, despite being firmly on the side of good. She is by far my favorite character in the book.
This is a facinating look into the possible ways Ann could have become who she is, the contracts she wove, the memories she retained, her quiet rebellions and political machinations. And I love how well she can maneuver in her world, and how uncertain she is of her ability to. I especially love the fact that it is about teenage Ann, and the rest of the quartet, and you can see how they become who they are in canon. And - well, I don’t want to spoil the fic for you. But let’s just say an unexpected minor original character made a startling movement of support/rebellion and I burst into happy tears. Oh my goodness, author, I love you and I plan to stalk ALL YOUR STORIES. All of them! <3
Trying to find a quote that doesn’t spoil the fic is hard, because a lot of it is gorgeous gorgeous dialogue (OH MY GOODNESS I am so jealous of your dialogue skills), but:
When she gets to the Head’s Office, Jacqueline Perry from seventh-year Art is on office page duty, and the Head’s secretary isn’t there. This is not, Ann knows, an accident. No one from home would visit the school without making sure someone from the family--and only someone from the family--was on hand to run errands.
“You can go straight in, then,” Jac says with a professional secretary’s empty smile. “Leave me your Blue and I’ll stamp it on your way out.”
Ann doesn’t know Jac Perry well, despite their being so close in age, and it’s not safe to make assumptions about who she favors.
Gunnerkrigg Court
The Wheel and The Serpent **
I love this look at Zimmy and the slow internal deepening of her strangeness. I’d never considered her before she became strange, and it’s an intensely melancholy story without ever falling into melodrama. When Gamma shows up, she seems like such a natural and right brightness that you can feel why Zimmy loves her.
Zimmy sits on the dirt and starts drawing squiggly lines with her tiny, bony fingers. The lines don't cross at first, but then they start to meet in perfect angles. The maze gets wider and wider and the lines grow messier, the lines grow deeper.
She closes her eyes and the lines continue, deeper deeper inside.
A Terrible Revelation
I have to admit, Boxbot has and always will be my favorite character in Gunnerkrigg Court. This is a fascinating look at how, overlooked, he might be privy to a million things no one will ever ask about.
If only you would ask, then Boxbot could tell you all about it. But you won’t, because just like everyone else you think Boxbot is terrible. And perhaps that is the most terrible thing of all.
The Queen’s Thief - Megan Whalen Turner
All of these fics are INTENSELY SPOILERY FOR THE SERIES, as are the recs. PLEASE AVOID IF YOU HAVEN’T READ.
Subtle Comforts
I think one of my favorite scenes in Conspiracy of Kings is the one where Attolis wraps Eddis up in his cloak from behind and quietly comforts her in her moment of grief. It gives such a deep insight into their relationship, and it’s a sweet moment all together (as is the moment in the earlier scene, where Attolia holds her hand). This is a fic that continues on from that moment, and I love it dearly.
She went to the window, letting Attolia's hand slip from her grasp. She could see nothing but the country of Attolia stretched before her, and she longed for her mountains, for her people. The jarring reality of her love for Sophos had obscured the quiet bond that had been cemented in Irene's calm show of support, and now Helen let herself think on it, let it sink in. She had not thought to find such a friend in the ruthless queen who had bent her ear with iron and poison, who had maimed her thief and confidant, who had taken Gen away from Eddis and away from her.
Silver Moonlight
I love this fic. It’s all about the bizarre tangles between trust and suspicion that Irene and Eugenides hold; between love and duty, devotion and stubborn pride. And it is gorgeous.
They embraced their silences as they embraced each other--with quiet desperation. Even in their trust in each other, she did not realize that he asked such things through interest that was not laden with expectations and secrets.
Still, she answered.
Bonus, Yuletide 2009! The Ambassador's King
Jadelennox managed to write a fic entirely in the tone of MWT, with a really interesting OC. I can see why she didn't expand the story line; it feels like it wants to evolve into a new Thief novel. Amazing!
"Prince Ahirom," said the Thief of Eddis from his chair beside Attolia, where Ahirom had not even noticed him, granched as he was on the queen's glare. Ahirom dragged his eyes from the queen's to look at her king and winced at Attolis's blank expression as he had not at Attolia's fury.
The Thief smiled without humor. "An excellent joke," he said, slouching in his throne. Only the white knuckles of his left (only) hand on the arm of the throne belied his posture. "Whether it is on you or me is still unclear. In any case, I beg you wait on our hospitality while we prepare rooms for you." The Thief rearranged himself in the throne as if he were sitting up straight, yet somehow managed still to be insolently sprawled. "Welcome to Attolia."
Spirited Away
Along the Way **
I can’t even. I. It made me cry, and it was beautiful, and powerful, and everything I needed after the movie. Just read it. (And yes it is written in "pretentious" second person and it is amazing and once you realize why, if you know canon, you will cry. I LOVE IT.)
Why could you no longer abide the sight of pork, when you once ate it without complaint? Why did you stare so at the frogs in the pond, as if expecting them to speak? Why could you hear the wind and the rain whispering to you, softly and gently, as if to an old friend? Why did you feel such a sense of nostalgia and loss, whenever you saw that purple hairband glinting in the sun? And why did the world never seem as bright, vivid, and magical as you somehow expected it to be?
Spy vs. Spy
Spy vs. Spy Who Came In From The Cold **
Guys. The romance scene is redacted. It is crazy amazing. I don’t know canon (more than the concept), and I think I am in love. Just go read it for the formatting, if nothing else.
Ursula Vernon - Works
The Grace of the Golem Keeper **
This story feels a good deal like Gearworld, which is my favorite of Ursula Vernon’s works. If you don't know her works, they're all about the weird and the normal and making one into the other. This story is a quiet myth-tale, which slowly builds into something like a fantastical history. It is beautifully written, and very much something you can read without knowing canon.
The angel appeared on the same day as the goldfinch, and of the two it was the far less strange.
documents gathered during the canonization inquiry for Saint Azul **
This is a jumble of documents collected, well, for the canonization inquiry of Saint Azul. And it is awesome. I love false histories! \o/
This story is really hard to quote, as it’s more of the gathering of details that packs the punch than any one portion. So go, read it! It’s only 1,054 words!
The story written for me is asterisk’d and awesome :D.
Things with double asterisks you can read without knowing canon at all (though you can read the others, too :P. UNLESS IT IS QUEEN’S THIEF THEY WILL SPOIL YOU FOREVER.)
Fire & Hemlock - Diana Wynne Jones
like the castle in its corner *
Oh my goodness, I love everything about this fic. I don’t know how to explain it in a way that would make sense to someone who has not read Fire & Hemlock (in which case, GO. READ IT. THIS FIC IS WAITING FOR YOU), but basically there is a minor character named Ann. You never learn much about Ann except that she is kind and extremely good at remembering things, and practical, and is musical - and related to the villain of the piece, despite being firmly on the side of good. She is by far my favorite character in the book.
This is a facinating look into the possible ways Ann could have become who she is, the contracts she wove, the memories she retained, her quiet rebellions and political machinations. And I love how well she can maneuver in her world, and how uncertain she is of her ability to. I especially love the fact that it is about teenage Ann, and the rest of the quartet, and you can see how they become who they are in canon. And - well, I don’t want to spoil the fic for you. But let’s just say an unexpected minor original character made a startling movement of support/rebellion and I burst into happy tears. Oh my goodness, author, I love you and I plan to stalk ALL YOUR STORIES. All of them! <3
Trying to find a quote that doesn’t spoil the fic is hard, because a lot of it is gorgeous gorgeous dialogue (OH MY GOODNESS I am so jealous of your dialogue skills), but:
When she gets to the Head’s Office, Jacqueline Perry from seventh-year Art is on office page duty, and the Head’s secretary isn’t there. This is not, Ann knows, an accident. No one from home would visit the school without making sure someone from the family--and only someone from the family--was on hand to run errands.
“You can go straight in, then,” Jac says with a professional secretary’s empty smile. “Leave me your Blue and I’ll stamp it on your way out.”
Ann doesn’t know Jac Perry well, despite their being so close in age, and it’s not safe to make assumptions about who she favors.
Gunnerkrigg Court
The Wheel and The Serpent **
I love this look at Zimmy and the slow internal deepening of her strangeness. I’d never considered her before she became strange, and it’s an intensely melancholy story without ever falling into melodrama. When Gamma shows up, she seems like such a natural and right brightness that you can feel why Zimmy loves her.
Zimmy sits on the dirt and starts drawing squiggly lines with her tiny, bony fingers. The lines don't cross at first, but then they start to meet in perfect angles. The maze gets wider and wider and the lines grow messier, the lines grow deeper.
She closes her eyes and the lines continue, deeper deeper inside.
A Terrible Revelation
I have to admit, Boxbot has and always will be my favorite character in Gunnerkrigg Court. This is a fascinating look at how, overlooked, he might be privy to a million things no one will ever ask about.
If only you would ask, then Boxbot could tell you all about it. But you won’t, because just like everyone else you think Boxbot is terrible. And perhaps that is the most terrible thing of all.
The Queen’s Thief - Megan Whalen Turner
All of these fics are INTENSELY SPOILERY FOR THE SERIES, as are the recs. PLEASE AVOID IF YOU HAVEN’T READ.
Subtle Comforts
I think one of my favorite scenes in Conspiracy of Kings is the one where Attolis wraps Eddis up in his cloak from behind and quietly comforts her in her moment of grief. It gives such a deep insight into their relationship, and it’s a sweet moment all together (as is the moment in the earlier scene, where Attolia holds her hand). This is a fic that continues on from that moment, and I love it dearly.
She went to the window, letting Attolia's hand slip from her grasp. She could see nothing but the country of Attolia stretched before her, and she longed for her mountains, for her people. The jarring reality of her love for Sophos had obscured the quiet bond that had been cemented in Irene's calm show of support, and now Helen let herself think on it, let it sink in. She had not thought to find such a friend in the ruthless queen who had bent her ear with iron and poison, who had maimed her thief and confidant, who had taken Gen away from Eddis and away from her.
Silver Moonlight
I love this fic. It’s all about the bizarre tangles between trust and suspicion that Irene and Eugenides hold; between love and duty, devotion and stubborn pride. And it is gorgeous.
They embraced their silences as they embraced each other--with quiet desperation. Even in their trust in each other, she did not realize that he asked such things through interest that was not laden with expectations and secrets.
Still, she answered.
Bonus, Yuletide 2009! The Ambassador's King
Jadelennox managed to write a fic entirely in the tone of MWT, with a really interesting OC. I can see why she didn't expand the story line; it feels like it wants to evolve into a new Thief novel. Amazing!
"Prince Ahirom," said the Thief of Eddis from his chair beside Attolia, where Ahirom had not even noticed him, granched as he was on the queen's glare. Ahirom dragged his eyes from the queen's to look at her king and winced at Attolis's blank expression as he had not at Attolia's fury.
The Thief smiled without humor. "An excellent joke," he said, slouching in his throne. Only the white knuckles of his left (only) hand on the arm of the throne belied his posture. "Whether it is on you or me is still unclear. In any case, I beg you wait on our hospitality while we prepare rooms for you." The Thief rearranged himself in the throne as if he were sitting up straight, yet somehow managed still to be insolently sprawled. "Welcome to Attolia."
Spirited Away
Along the Way **
I can’t even. I. It made me cry, and it was beautiful, and powerful, and everything I needed after the movie. Just read it. (And yes it is written in "pretentious" second person and it is amazing and once you realize why, if you know canon, you will cry. I LOVE IT.)
Why could you no longer abide the sight of pork, when you once ate it without complaint? Why did you stare so at the frogs in the pond, as if expecting them to speak? Why could you hear the wind and the rain whispering to you, softly and gently, as if to an old friend? Why did you feel such a sense of nostalgia and loss, whenever you saw that purple hairband glinting in the sun? And why did the world never seem as bright, vivid, and magical as you somehow expected it to be?
Spy vs. Spy
Spy vs. Spy Who Came In From The Cold **
Guys. The romance scene is redacted. It is crazy amazing. I don’t know canon (more than the concept), and I think I am in love. Just go read it for the formatting, if nothing else.
Ursula Vernon - Works
The Grace of the Golem Keeper **
This story feels a good deal like Gearworld, which is my favorite of Ursula Vernon’s works. If you don't know her works, they're all about the weird and the normal and making one into the other. This story is a quiet myth-tale, which slowly builds into something like a fantastical history. It is beautifully written, and very much something you can read without knowing canon.
The angel appeared on the same day as the goldfinch, and of the two it was the far less strange.
documents gathered during the canonization inquiry for Saint Azul **
This is a jumble of documents collected, well, for the canonization inquiry of Saint Azul. And it is awesome. I love false histories! \o/
This story is really hard to quote, as it’s more of the gathering of details that packs the punch than any one portion. So go, read it! It’s only 1,054 words!