Yuletide! Yuletide! Yuletide! Or, The Squee Heard 'Round the World
Ok, time to breathe; I probably won't get kicked out of Yuletide this year after all. The Law of Yuletide forbids me from going into detail about my struggles with the prompt, and it's probably for the best. Anyway, I didn't default and I'm glad I didn't, and A Valuable Lesson Was Learned about not procrastinating. Again.
But listen, I got some amazing stories this year. STORIES IN THE PLURAL.
First there was the gift from my assigned author:
Work in Progress (1225 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Emily of New Moon - L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery
Rating: General Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Emily Byrd Starr/Writing
Characters: Emily Byrd Starr, Anne Shirley, Ilse Burnley, Elizabeth Murray, Mr. Carpenter
Summary:
Anne rolls her eyes. "Is your aunt really going to know if you cheat on your nonfiction with some hot prose on the side?"
"It's the principle of the thing. I've got my pride," Emily says.
"Ah, yes, Murray pride," Anne says, warming to the topic. "Also known as, your family is so ridiculously stubborn that whenever I think about them I thank God I'm an orphan."
"I'm an orphan, too," Emily points out.
"I thank God I'm adopted," Anne says.
Did I know I wanted a pitch-perfect contemporary AU Anne-Emily crossover full of friendship, wit, and thoughtful optimism, with Emily returning uneasily but hopefully back to fiction after years as a successful blogger? No, but someone did, and the result is a delicious confection of deliciousness with a chewy caramel center of writer-writing.
Yes, my metaphors are terrible; that's why Mr. Carpenter ignored me for all those years back in Blair Water.
But I love him anyway, and I love this story.
Then there was a completely unexpected treat:
Roll in the Burlington (2505 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Anne Shirley/Katherine Brooke, Katherine Brooke/OFC
Characters: Katherine Brooke, Anne Shirley, Davy Keith, Rachel Lynde
Summary:
Katherine Brooke, lately of Summerside, Prince Edward Island, stood for the seventeenth night running on a makeshift stage under crude footlights in a top hat and scarlet tails.
The story is radically different from "Work in Progress," but also full of difficult optimism and made of perfection. I'm still figuring out how best to comment on it. So I'll just say that Katherine Brooke wasn't being entirely honest about the nature of her new job, and that "Roll in the Burlington" is bold and compassionate in a way that is rooted in the original Katharine Brooke arc and surpasses it beautifully.
And AS IF THAT WERE NOT ENOUGH, I have a Yuletide Madness story waiting for me. Yuletide, you are collectively the greatest thing of all time, in every category of thing.
But listen, I got some amazing stories this year. STORIES IN THE PLURAL.
First there was the gift from my assigned author:
Work in Progress (1225 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Emily of New Moon - L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery
Rating: General Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Emily Byrd Starr/Writing
Characters: Emily Byrd Starr, Anne Shirley, Ilse Burnley, Elizabeth Murray, Mr. Carpenter
Summary:
Anne rolls her eyes. "Is your aunt really going to know if you cheat on your nonfiction with some hot prose on the side?"
"It's the principle of the thing. I've got my pride," Emily says.
"Ah, yes, Murray pride," Anne says, warming to the topic. "Also known as, your family is so ridiculously stubborn that whenever I think about them I thank God I'm an orphan."
"I'm an orphan, too," Emily points out.
"I thank God I'm adopted," Anne says.
Did I know I wanted a pitch-perfect contemporary AU Anne-Emily crossover full of friendship, wit, and thoughtful optimism, with Emily returning uneasily but hopefully back to fiction after years as a successful blogger? No, but someone did, and the result is a delicious confection of deliciousness with a chewy caramel center of writer-writing.
Yes, my metaphors are terrible; that's why Mr. Carpenter ignored me for all those years back in Blair Water.
But I love him anyway, and I love this story.
Then there was a completely unexpected treat:
Roll in the Burlington (2505 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Anne Shirley/Katherine Brooke, Katherine Brooke/OFC
Characters: Katherine Brooke, Anne Shirley, Davy Keith, Rachel Lynde
Summary:
Katherine Brooke, lately of Summerside, Prince Edward Island, stood for the seventeenth night running on a makeshift stage under crude footlights in a top hat and scarlet tails.
The story is radically different from "Work in Progress," but also full of difficult optimism and made of perfection. I'm still figuring out how best to comment on it. So I'll just say that Katherine Brooke wasn't being entirely honest about the nature of her new job, and that "Roll in the Burlington" is bold and compassionate in a way that is rooted in the original Katharine Brooke arc and surpasses it beautifully.
And AS IF THAT WERE NOT ENOUGH, I have a Yuletide Madness story waiting for me. Yuletide, you are collectively the greatest thing of all time, in every category of thing.