yuletide recs #1
I am not particularly methodical about how I go through the collection (roughly: read my gift, read stories in the other fandoms I requested, read stories in other fandoms I'm currently interested in, oh that looks interesting, that does too, ooh shiny), so this is an unthemed mishmash of recs, and there will be more unthemed mishmashes to come.
Need to know canon: Alpennia series, Aubrey-Maturin series, The Chrysalids, The Expanse(2), Foundryside, Jane Unlimited
A Twelve Days' Mystery (7413 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Alpennia Series - Heather Rose Jones
Rating: Mature Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Barbara Lumbiert/Margerit Sovitre, Antuniet Chazillen/Jeanne de Cherdillac
Characters: Jeanne de Cherdillac, Barbara Lumbiert, Margerit Sovitre, Antuniet Chazillen, Original Characters
Additional Tags: Femslash, Blackmail, Christmas, Canon-typical religious observance, Alchemy, Masquerade, Minor Injuries, 1820s
Summary: Christmas 1824, and the twelve days of festivities ought to be a period of frivolity and respite for everyone who isn't expected to be at the New Year's court, and even for those who are. But that was before someone from Jeanne's past reappeared... with a problem.
I love how each of the characters gets to shine in her own specialty: Margerit devising mysteries, Barbara using her strength and fighting skill, Antuniet making gems that enhance abilities, and Jeanne acting. I especially liked the way the story works within the saints' days and the celebrations, bit by bit, and all the little elements that build on each other to make an interesting story. And the intimate moments the couples share are lovely, too.
Secrets (1503 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Aubrey-Maturin Series - Patrick O'Brian
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Stephen Maturin/Diana Villiers
Characters: Stephen Maturin, Diana Villiers
Additional Tags: Spies and intrigue, Alternate Universe, Diana Villers POV
Summary: Diana goes through Maturin’s things out of habit. She has done so for years, long before they wed; it is in her unchangeable nature to be suspicious of everyone, especially those she loves.//(Or, Diana finds more than she expected in Stephens's belongings. She finds an understanding, and a new aspect of her husband...)
This is really lovely. It's got so much characterization through the incidentals; we see Stephen Maturin as Diana sees him, and we see Diana through the lens of her affection for Stephen. It's like a moment in time, a bit of their relationship caught in amber, and it's so beautifully formed and clear. (AU tag is for canon divergence.)
Emergence (2017 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: The Chrysalids - John Wyndham
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Michael/Rachel
Characters: Michael, Rachel
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Sailing, Canon Disabled Character, References to Canon-Typical Religious Beliefs
Summary: "The world is round, so there must be another way to get there."//Deciding to go to Sealand was the easy part.
Found-document fragments of Rachel's journal on the way to her new life.
Nor Is My House Now My House (8491 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: The Expanse (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Arjun/Chrisjen Avasarala
Characters: Chrisjen Avasarala, Cotyar (The Expanse), Arjun (The Expanse)
Additional Tags: Grief/Mourning, Pre-Canon, Childbirth
Summary: Charanpal dies. Chrisjen plants a garden. Something is born.
What a wonderfully layered and complex fic! Chrisjen comes through as her tough, sharp, pull-no-punches self even as she's reeling inside. Her relationship with Arjun is really beautiful here, his soft support and unstated strength, and I love the slow and elegant development of her friendship with Cotyar.
tili go (1605 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: The Expanse (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Drummer (The Expanse), Ashford (The Expanse)
Summary: She sings and Ashford joins her, and it is the only time they have ever been in harmony.
This is an exquisite character study of Drummer, and rings so true to the show. And stylistically, wow, it's just so beautifully done.
Adjustment (7933 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Foundryside - Robert Jackson Bennett
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Sancia Grado/Berenice Grimaldi
Characters: Sancia Grado, Berenice Grimaldi, Orso Ignacio
Additional Tags: Contains many book 1 spoilers
Summary: Sancia tries to build a new place for herself -- and maybe get that drink, too.
This hits all my found-family feels, the ensemble staying together and supporting each other in the aftermath of the events of the first book, along with the sweet bit of Sancia/Berenice and the geeky scriving stuff that is so much fun.
Ivy, Unlimited (13867 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 3/3
Fandom: Jane Unlimited - Kristin Cashore
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Jane (Jane Unlimited)/Ivy Yellan
Additional Tags: background Kiran/Patrick, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe of an Alternate Universe, First Time, medical drama, Western, Vaguely Sports-ish Rom-Com
Summary: If Jane's choices are like the ribs of an umbrella all branching from one point, Ivy's are more like a Scrabble board, where you can lay a new word down across any word already there.
It's a perfect pastiche and the most delightful romance, a seamless reflection of the novel into an Ivy-epilogue (multiple Ivy-epilogues!) and it's MY GIFT YAY!
Don't (necessarily) need to know (much) canon: 17776, Help Me Follow My Sister Into the Land of the Dead, The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, Red Riding Hood, Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms, The Tay Bridge Disaster, The Voynich Manuscript(2)
Refraction (1053 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: 17776: What Football Will Look Like in the Future - Jon Bois
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Nine (17776), Ten (17776), Juice (17776)
Additional Tags: Characters Reading Fanfiction, Meta, Eternity
Summary: Hey Ten? Do people still write fanfiction?
This is brilliant. The more things change, etc. etc. Stories of stories of stories. You need only know that the characters are spacecraft (Voyagers 9 and 10, and the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer) in the far future where people don't die any more and they are obsessed about "football" (which has evolved into something weird).
Project Update #112: Orphi, Your Personal Underworld Portal by Lyresong Designs LLC (1451 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Help Me Follow My Sister into the Land of the Dead - Carmen Maria Machado
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Original Characters
Additional Tags: Unconventional Format, crowdfunding, Necromancy, Ghosts, Implied/Referenced Suicide
Summary: Nothing lasts forever -- not even crowdfunded necromancy devices. Maybe especially not crowdfunded necromancy devices.
This is a delightful pastiche of the Kickstarter format with all the usual elements: the cheery "getcher reagents at a discount" message, the disgruntled customers, the anxious people having difficulties, the official responses from the company. (I specifically recommend this to people who enjoyed my SpaceshipAdvisor Reviews story - it's a similar gimmick.)
The Journeys of Sarah Sioban Grey (-- words) by Anonymous
Fandom: The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August - Claire North
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Sarah Sioban Grey
Additional Tags: Interactive Fiction, Yuletide Treat, Yuletide 2018
Summary: Life, death, rebirth, memory.
You need only know that the novel is about Kalachakras, people who, when they die, are reborn back into their life from the start, but they remember all their past lives each time. The subject of this story is a barely-mentioned character who founds the Cronus Club for Kalachakras to help each other. IF is a perfect format for this book, and because of the circularity of the Kalachakras' lives it makes a gentle sort of CYOA, where instead of branching away into disaster or success you simply return to the start and explore another path. And each path gives another bit of knowledge, another idea for Sarah to add to her store, to help her put together the Cronus Club.
Off to NAN's Housing We Go (2060 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Rotkäppchen | Little Red Riding Hood (Fairy Tale)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Big Bad Wolf/Little Red Riding Hood
Characters: Big Bad Wolf, Rotkäppchen | Little Red Riding Hood
Additional Tags: Science Fiction, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction
Summary: A Little Red Riding Hood sci-fi AU.
Sci-Fi Red Riding Hood. This was delightful and hilarious! I love Red's casual voice ("Yeah, no") and the various supporting characters, and the confusion over idioms and language. The BBW totally cracked me up, too. Best boyfriend! (Except for the teeth.)
weaver of tales, weaver of clouds (9675 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 2/2
Fandom: Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms - Mercedes Lackey
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Female Character, Original Female Character(s)/Original Male Character(s)
Characters: Original Female Character(s) of Color, Original Male Character(s) of Color
Additional Tags: Japanese Character(s), Japanese Mythology & Folklore, Bisexual Female Character, Lesbian Character of Color, Grandparents & Grandchildren, Yuletide 2018
Summary: “Tell me again, Miyu,” Shiori said.//“Which story, Grandmother?”//“Any story you like. Your favorite, perhaps.”
This takes the (mostly) western-fairy-tale-centric source, in which the "Tradition" tries to shape people's lives according to fairy tale patterns, and writes a fantasy-Japanese version. It's cool to see the workings of the Tradition in another culture, and the creation of a Godmother-equivalent (a would-be princess/story heroine/victim who gains power from thwarting the Tradition) in this world. (It's complete in one chapter; the second chapter is notes.)
Seven Views of the Tay Bridge Disaster (1274 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: The Tay Bridge Disaster - William McGonagall
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: the train - Character, the wind god, the passengers, the diver, the signalman, the river - Character, William McGonagall
Additional Tags: Poetry, Inspired by Poetry, train crash, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Inspired by Real Events, Yuletide Treat
Summary: There’s something not right with the Bridge at the Tay//there’s bits of it strewn on the silt beneath.
This is delightful, all the perspectives from banal to chilling. And I suspect I see a shout-out to The Little Engine That Could. You get a bit more depth if you read the original poem and information about the disaster at http://www.mcgonagall-online.org.uk/gems/the-tay-bridge-disaster
Alys at the Heart of the Earth (5623 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 9/9
Fandom: The Voynich Manuscript
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Additional Tags: Misses Clause Challenge, Alice in Wonderland References, Alternate Universe - Alice in Wonderland Fusion, Inspired by Alice in Wonderland, Astrology, Female-Centric
Summary: Alys, a maidservant in 1430s England, dreams of learning to read and write. But the only person willing to teach her drives a hard bargain, and the errand she must perform in return draws her through a fantastical world of astrology and alchemy, into a female realm far beneath the earth.
Alys in Wonderland, heeeee! This is great, a rollicking adventure that is perfectly appropriate for its source.
A Quickstart Guide to Voynich RPG (1248 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Voynich Manuscript (Book)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Additional Tags: Horror, Humor, Role-Playing Game
Summary: Actually, it's an RPG manual. A very special RPG manual.
Darkly funny. (I beta read this.) It helps to glance at the Wikipedia page for the Voynich Manuscript, but that's optional.
Crossposted from isis at Dreamwidth where there are
comments. | Comment at Dreamwidth
Need to know canon: Alpennia series, Aubrey-Maturin series, The Chrysalids, The Expanse(2), Foundryside, Jane Unlimited
A Twelve Days' Mystery (7413 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Alpennia Series - Heather Rose Jones
Rating: Mature Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Barbara Lumbiert/Margerit Sovitre, Antuniet Chazillen/Jeanne de Cherdillac
Characters: Jeanne de Cherdillac, Barbara Lumbiert, Margerit Sovitre, Antuniet Chazillen, Original Characters
Additional Tags: Femslash, Blackmail, Christmas, Canon-typical religious observance, Alchemy, Masquerade, Minor Injuries, 1820s
Summary: Christmas 1824, and the twelve days of festivities ought to be a period of frivolity and respite for everyone who isn't expected to be at the New Year's court, and even for those who are. But that was before someone from Jeanne's past reappeared... with a problem.
I love how each of the characters gets to shine in her own specialty: Margerit devising mysteries, Barbara using her strength and fighting skill, Antuniet making gems that enhance abilities, and Jeanne acting. I especially liked the way the story works within the saints' days and the celebrations, bit by bit, and all the little elements that build on each other to make an interesting story. And the intimate moments the couples share are lovely, too.
Secrets (1503 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Aubrey-Maturin Series - Patrick O'Brian
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Stephen Maturin/Diana Villiers
Characters: Stephen Maturin, Diana Villiers
Additional Tags: Spies and intrigue, Alternate Universe, Diana Villers POV
Summary: Diana goes through Maturin’s things out of habit. She has done so for years, long before they wed; it is in her unchangeable nature to be suspicious of everyone, especially those she loves.//(Or, Diana finds more than she expected in Stephens's belongings. She finds an understanding, and a new aspect of her husband...)
This is really lovely. It's got so much characterization through the incidentals; we see Stephen Maturin as Diana sees him, and we see Diana through the lens of her affection for Stephen. It's like a moment in time, a bit of their relationship caught in amber, and it's so beautifully formed and clear. (AU tag is for canon divergence.)
Emergence (2017 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: The Chrysalids - John Wyndham
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Michael/Rachel
Characters: Michael, Rachel
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Sailing, Canon Disabled Character, References to Canon-Typical Religious Beliefs
Summary: "The world is round, so there must be another way to get there."//Deciding to go to Sealand was the easy part.
Found-document fragments of Rachel's journal on the way to her new life.
Nor Is My House Now My House (8491 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: The Expanse (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Arjun/Chrisjen Avasarala
Characters: Chrisjen Avasarala, Cotyar (The Expanse), Arjun (The Expanse)
Additional Tags: Grief/Mourning, Pre-Canon, Childbirth
Summary: Charanpal dies. Chrisjen plants a garden. Something is born.
What a wonderfully layered and complex fic! Chrisjen comes through as her tough, sharp, pull-no-punches self even as she's reeling inside. Her relationship with Arjun is really beautiful here, his soft support and unstated strength, and I love the slow and elegant development of her friendship with Cotyar.
tili go (1605 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: The Expanse (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Drummer (The Expanse), Ashford (The Expanse)
Summary: She sings and Ashford joins her, and it is the only time they have ever been in harmony.
This is an exquisite character study of Drummer, and rings so true to the show. And stylistically, wow, it's just so beautifully done.
Adjustment (7933 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Foundryside - Robert Jackson Bennett
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Sancia Grado/Berenice Grimaldi
Characters: Sancia Grado, Berenice Grimaldi, Orso Ignacio
Additional Tags: Contains many book 1 spoilers
Summary: Sancia tries to build a new place for herself -- and maybe get that drink, too.
This hits all my found-family feels, the ensemble staying together and supporting each other in the aftermath of the events of the first book, along with the sweet bit of Sancia/Berenice and the geeky scriving stuff that is so much fun.
Ivy, Unlimited (13867 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 3/3
Fandom: Jane Unlimited - Kristin Cashore
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Jane (Jane Unlimited)/Ivy Yellan
Additional Tags: background Kiran/Patrick, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe of an Alternate Universe, First Time, medical drama, Western, Vaguely Sports-ish Rom-Com
Summary: If Jane's choices are like the ribs of an umbrella all branching from one point, Ivy's are more like a Scrabble board, where you can lay a new word down across any word already there.
It's a perfect pastiche and the most delightful romance, a seamless reflection of the novel into an Ivy-epilogue (multiple Ivy-epilogues!) and it's MY GIFT YAY!
Don't (necessarily) need to know (much) canon: 17776, Help Me Follow My Sister Into the Land of the Dead, The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, Red Riding Hood, Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms, The Tay Bridge Disaster, The Voynich Manuscript(2)
Refraction (1053 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: 17776: What Football Will Look Like in the Future - Jon Bois
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Nine (17776), Ten (17776), Juice (17776)
Additional Tags: Characters Reading Fanfiction, Meta, Eternity
Summary: Hey Ten? Do people still write fanfiction?
This is brilliant. The more things change, etc. etc. Stories of stories of stories. You need only know that the characters are spacecraft (Voyagers 9 and 10, and the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer) in the far future where people don't die any more and they are obsessed about "football" (which has evolved into something weird).
Project Update #112: Orphi, Your Personal Underworld Portal by Lyresong Designs LLC (1451 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Help Me Follow My Sister into the Land of the Dead - Carmen Maria Machado
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Original Characters
Additional Tags: Unconventional Format, crowdfunding, Necromancy, Ghosts, Implied/Referenced Suicide
Summary: Nothing lasts forever -- not even crowdfunded necromancy devices. Maybe especially not crowdfunded necromancy devices.
This is a delightful pastiche of the Kickstarter format with all the usual elements: the cheery "getcher reagents at a discount" message, the disgruntled customers, the anxious people having difficulties, the official responses from the company. (I specifically recommend this to people who enjoyed my SpaceshipAdvisor Reviews story - it's a similar gimmick.)
The Journeys of Sarah Sioban Grey (-- words) by Anonymous
Fandom: The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August - Claire North
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Sarah Sioban Grey
Additional Tags: Interactive Fiction, Yuletide Treat, Yuletide 2018
Summary: Life, death, rebirth, memory.
You need only know that the novel is about Kalachakras, people who, when they die, are reborn back into their life from the start, but they remember all their past lives each time. The subject of this story is a barely-mentioned character who founds the Cronus Club for Kalachakras to help each other. IF is a perfect format for this book, and because of the circularity of the Kalachakras' lives it makes a gentle sort of CYOA, where instead of branching away into disaster or success you simply return to the start and explore another path. And each path gives another bit of knowledge, another idea for Sarah to add to her store, to help her put together the Cronus Club.
Off to NAN's Housing We Go (2060 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Rotkäppchen | Little Red Riding Hood (Fairy Tale)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Big Bad Wolf/Little Red Riding Hood
Characters: Big Bad Wolf, Rotkäppchen | Little Red Riding Hood
Additional Tags: Science Fiction, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction
Summary: A Little Red Riding Hood sci-fi AU.
Sci-Fi Red Riding Hood. This was delightful and hilarious! I love Red's casual voice ("Yeah, no") and the various supporting characters, and the confusion over idioms and language. The BBW totally cracked me up, too. Best boyfriend! (Except for the teeth.)
weaver of tales, weaver of clouds (9675 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 2/2
Fandom: Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms - Mercedes Lackey
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Female Character, Original Female Character(s)/Original Male Character(s)
Characters: Original Female Character(s) of Color, Original Male Character(s) of Color
Additional Tags: Japanese Character(s), Japanese Mythology & Folklore, Bisexual Female Character, Lesbian Character of Color, Grandparents & Grandchildren, Yuletide 2018
Summary: “Tell me again, Miyu,” Shiori said.//“Which story, Grandmother?”//“Any story you like. Your favorite, perhaps.”
This takes the (mostly) western-fairy-tale-centric source, in which the "Tradition" tries to shape people's lives according to fairy tale patterns, and writes a fantasy-Japanese version. It's cool to see the workings of the Tradition in another culture, and the creation of a Godmother-equivalent (a would-be princess/story heroine/victim who gains power from thwarting the Tradition) in this world. (It's complete in one chapter; the second chapter is notes.)
Seven Views of the Tay Bridge Disaster (1274 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: The Tay Bridge Disaster - William McGonagall
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: the train - Character, the wind god, the passengers, the diver, the signalman, the river - Character, William McGonagall
Additional Tags: Poetry, Inspired by Poetry, train crash, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Inspired by Real Events, Yuletide Treat
Summary: There’s something not right with the Bridge at the Tay//there’s bits of it strewn on the silt beneath.
This is delightful, all the perspectives from banal to chilling. And I suspect I see a shout-out to The Little Engine That Could. You get a bit more depth if you read the original poem and information about the disaster at http://www.mcgonagall-online.org.uk/gems/the-tay-bridge-disaster
Alys at the Heart of the Earth (5623 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 9/9
Fandom: The Voynich Manuscript
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Additional Tags: Misses Clause Challenge, Alice in Wonderland References, Alternate Universe - Alice in Wonderland Fusion, Inspired by Alice in Wonderland, Astrology, Female-Centric
Summary: Alys, a maidservant in 1430s England, dreams of learning to read and write. But the only person willing to teach her drives a hard bargain, and the errand she must perform in return draws her through a fantastical world of astrology and alchemy, into a female realm far beneath the earth.
Alys in Wonderland, heeeee! This is great, a rollicking adventure that is perfectly appropriate for its source.
A Quickstart Guide to Voynich RPG (1248 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Voynich Manuscript (Book)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Additional Tags: Horror, Humor, Role-Playing Game
Summary: Actually, it's an RPG manual. A very special RPG manual.
Darkly funny. (I beta read this.) It helps to glance at the Wikipedia page for the Voynich Manuscript, but that's optional.
Crossposted from isis at Dreamwidth where there are
comments. | Comment at Dreamwidth