trick or treat!
[ETA author names] I spent all day yesterday either furniture shopping or driving, so the fact that the reveals bug messed up the Trick or Treat Exchange didn't really faze me, because, no time to read my gifts! Though I admit I was disappointed that this also meant that nobody read the things I wrote. But now all is revealed, and so I spent all the interstices of my workday reading fic and looking at art, hooray. First my gifts!
The Wonders of Boat Making by
shopfront is a Sameth/Original Male Clayr fic (Garth Nix's Old Kingdom) whose author apparently reached right into my brain and pulled out a piece of the story I was contemplating a few years ago but never got around to writing. It's really just a shippy scene from what could be a much longer fic, but it has some interesting worldbuilding ideas around the Clayr boats such as Finder, and around the rare male Clayr.
Wine and Darkness by
wednesday is a lovely bit of art for the Witcher 3 Blood and Wine DLC, which, if you haven't played it, just know that the depicted characters are a vampire and his lover. Gorgeous colors and textures.
Other artwork I really liked (and you can enjoy these without canon knowledge):
Ghosts by
wednesday, a Witcher 2 artwork of Iorveth (a one-eyed elf archer) in a spooky wintry forest. Mystical and menacing.
In Which Beruthiel's Cats Explore Middle Earth by
lynndyre, four Tolkien sketches, with cats. Funny and adorable.
Other fics I especially enjoyed:
the light of your deepest devotions by
kimaracretak is a very atmospheric snippet of Iorveth musing about Saskia during the events of Witcher 2.
Purpose by
chantefable is a Frontier Wolf fic about Shula receiving Cunorix's body after his death, and stepping up to lead the Votadini. I like it because it's a different perspective on the characters than usually seen in this fandom.
Carry That Weight by
coaldustcanary is a Marcus/Esca fic for The Eagle (movie) with beautiful descriptive imagery, and a feeling of being right on the liminal edge of reality and vision.
At the World's Edge by
opalmatrix is a fic for Ann Leckie's Provenance (which is under Imperial Radch so that's not clear from the tags) about wee!Tic Uisine dealing with having his gills not come in. It's really sweet and feels...adorably alien?
A godlike wreath of its own wrath by
psychomachia is a fairy-tale like story about the Kingdom Above and the Kingdom Below, based on the artwork of Omar Rayyan, particularly on Contessa with Squid, I think, though there are elements of others. Cool worldbuilding. It can be read without canon knowledge (but come on, look at the painting!)
Jo.Lene by
Missy is a ficlet based on the Dolly Parton song "Jolene", in which the narrator is the wife of an astronomer obsessed with a deadly and beautiful black hole. It can be read without canon knowledge (but come on, listen to the song!)
Chjtolene by
afterism is another Jolene fic, and it takes on the cracky prompt "Jolene as an eldritch horror" with incredible panache. This is why I don't actually DNW second person and only say "I generally dislike it, but if you have a great idea go for it," because this is a perfect example of awesome use of second person. Again, no canon knowledge needed. It reminds me quite a bit of the Robert Jackson Bennett novel American Elsewhere which I read earlier this fall.
And I haven't even looked at the Original Works yet!
Crossposted from isis at Dreamwidth where there are
comments. | Comment at Dreamwidth
The Wonders of Boat Making by
shopfront is a Sameth/Original Male Clayr fic (Garth Nix's Old Kingdom) whose author apparently reached right into my brain and pulled out a piece of the story I was contemplating a few years ago but never got around to writing. It's really just a shippy scene from what could be a much longer fic, but it has some interesting worldbuilding ideas around the Clayr boats such as Finder, and around the rare male Clayr.
Wine and Darkness by
wednesday is a lovely bit of art for the Witcher 3 Blood and Wine DLC, which, if you haven't played it, just know that the depicted characters are a vampire and his lover. Gorgeous colors and textures.
Other artwork I really liked (and you can enjoy these without canon knowledge):
Ghosts by
wednesday, a Witcher 2 artwork of Iorveth (a one-eyed elf archer) in a spooky wintry forest. Mystical and menacing.
In Which Beruthiel's Cats Explore Middle Earth by
lynndyre, four Tolkien sketches, with cats. Funny and adorable.
Other fics I especially enjoyed:
the light of your deepest devotions by
kimaracretak is a very atmospheric snippet of Iorveth musing about Saskia during the events of Witcher 2.
Purpose by
chantefable is a Frontier Wolf fic about Shula receiving Cunorix's body after his death, and stepping up to lead the Votadini. I like it because it's a different perspective on the characters than usually seen in this fandom.
Carry That Weight by
coaldustcanary is a Marcus/Esca fic for The Eagle (movie) with beautiful descriptive imagery, and a feeling of being right on the liminal edge of reality and vision.
At the World's Edge by
opalmatrix is a fic for Ann Leckie's Provenance (which is under Imperial Radch so that's not clear from the tags) about wee!Tic Uisine dealing with having his gills not come in. It's really sweet and feels...adorably alien?
A godlike wreath of its own wrath by
psychomachia is a fairy-tale like story about the Kingdom Above and the Kingdom Below, based on the artwork of Omar Rayyan, particularly on Contessa with Squid, I think, though there are elements of others. Cool worldbuilding. It can be read without canon knowledge (but come on, look at the painting!)
Jo.Lene by
Missy is a ficlet based on the Dolly Parton song "Jolene", in which the narrator is the wife of an astronomer obsessed with a deadly and beautiful black hole. It can be read without canon knowledge (but come on, listen to the song!)
Chjtolene by
afterism is another Jolene fic, and it takes on the cracky prompt "Jolene as an eldritch horror" with incredible panache. This is why I don't actually DNW second person and only say "I generally dislike it, but if you have a great idea go for it," because this is a perfect example of awesome use of second person. Again, no canon knowledge needed. It reminds me quite a bit of the Robert Jackson Bennett novel American Elsewhere which I read earlier this fall.
And I haven't even looked at the Original Works yet!
Crossposted from isis at Dreamwidth where there are
comments. | Comment at Dreamwidth