the blazing yule before us
dear livejournal, apparently I am back with you earlier than I thought, because one of the boxes under the tree this morning contained... a brand new wireless card, one I can actually use with my family's network. I predict this will be my second-most used gift, the first-most being the very shiny blue 4Gb ipod nano that was wrapped in about twenty layers of bubble wrap and sitting in... a shoebox. Yes, I was quite surprised too, but it can be explained like this: my youngest sister really, really wanted one and is young enough not to be ashamed to ask, and my parents like to reduce shopping stress as much as posible and are very much of the buy-everyone-the-same-thing with variations in, for e.g., colour of socks, title of book, artist of CD, and so on. So we all lucked out. Thank you, Freya, may you remain shameless and materialistic many years hence. Her name is Dairine, to go with my laptop called Nita and her trusty sidekick Kit, my external hard drive. Which is pretty much a matched set! Go, me.
Other highlights included Wintersmith, How We Fell by Glenn Colquhoun, Small Holes in the Silence by Patricia Grace, the Essential Johnny Cash, Transatlanticism by Death Cab for Cutie, The Greatest by Cat Power, a very beautiful notebook from my sister... um... some clothes and polka dot socks! Also, a subscription to SFX magazine, which is AWESOME and I am excited. We had a really peaceful family Christmas, which was a lovely change - I love my extended family but there's always pressure when we're visiting or trying to feed everyone and it was just really calm and quiet, we got up and ate the big dinner and so on at whatever time we wanted, we didn't worry about dressing up or cleaning obsessively or using napkins, which is lucky because we don't own napkins. And now we're all in bed, because I'm working tomorrow morning and my family is going away and dropping me at work on their way out of town at 7am.
But none of that is the point of this post, which is: YULETIDE. Haven't really read through it properly yet except for the fandom that I hit up first every year religiously, and kids, did we ever luck out this year. I'm linking them all and you can consider them blanket recs, because they are all guaranteed to give fuzzies. I'm amused to see that Tom and Carl feature heavily in every single story, even the ones that aren't actually about them; it's so nice when fandom shares your biases, isn't it?
A to Z
Ridiculously cute Herewiss/Freelorn - that's right, kids, Tale of the Five canon married slash (although to really cover the whole scope of this particular marriage you basically need an orgy, and this is not it. It is so damn adorable, though.) It's just a wee stocking stuffer but it's pitch and pacing perfect, in my opinion.
At First Sight
Very mild Tom/Carl and associates. Sweet like sugar cane.
Sticks and Stones
Really fun little gen piece about Nita and Kit's wizarding practise, set at some indeterminate time post-Dilemma - actually, I guess this one is technically AU, but whatever, that's not really the spirit of it - point is, it's just a wee speculation about what Nita and Kit might do, wizard-wise, when they're not saving the planet in spectacular galaxy-travelling showdowns with the Lone Power.
Adjunct Talents
Tom and Carl's first meeting - there's actually a huge amount of T&C backstory this year, it is THRILLING. I really like this one a lot; like the other stocking filler for this recipient (A to Z), it's small but perfectly formed. And may I just say, thank you to whoever defaulted or was late with this, because we got three stories for the price of one and it's awesome.
This Story Isn't About Nita
A Kit POV during that difficult time in between Dilemma and Alone. Spoilerific, obvs; the way it was structured really reminded me how fond I am of Nita, how I relate to her, because even though she's barely in the fic the whole story is really focused around her in the same way the series is.
An Unwilling Heart
RUN, do NOT walk, to read this. It is HUGE for a yuletide fic - 87k - it's Carl backstory leading into Tom/Carl, but even if that's not your cup of tea I highly recommend this anyway, because it's also hardcore plotty. It's filled with details from the Concordance, it has a hysterical Peach, it explores everyone's favourite canon mystery. You won't be sorry.
Other highlights included Wintersmith, How We Fell by Glenn Colquhoun, Small Holes in the Silence by Patricia Grace, the Essential Johnny Cash, Transatlanticism by Death Cab for Cutie, The Greatest by Cat Power, a very beautiful notebook from my sister... um... some clothes and polka dot socks! Also, a subscription to SFX magazine, which is AWESOME and I am excited. We had a really peaceful family Christmas, which was a lovely change - I love my extended family but there's always pressure when we're visiting or trying to feed everyone and it was just really calm and quiet, we got up and ate the big dinner and so on at whatever time we wanted, we didn't worry about dressing up or cleaning obsessively or using napkins, which is lucky because we don't own napkins. And now we're all in bed, because I'm working tomorrow morning and my family is going away and dropping me at work on their way out of town at 7am.
But none of that is the point of this post, which is: YULETIDE. Haven't really read through it properly yet except for the fandom that I hit up first every year religiously, and kids, did we ever luck out this year. I'm linking them all and you can consider them blanket recs, because they are all guaranteed to give fuzzies. I'm amused to see that Tom and Carl feature heavily in every single story, even the ones that aren't actually about them; it's so nice when fandom shares your biases, isn't it?
A to Z
Ridiculously cute Herewiss/Freelorn - that's right, kids, Tale of the Five canon married slash (although to really cover the whole scope of this particular marriage you basically need an orgy, and this is not it. It is so damn adorable, though.) It's just a wee stocking stuffer but it's pitch and pacing perfect, in my opinion.
At First Sight
Very mild Tom/Carl and associates. Sweet like sugar cane.
Sticks and Stones
Really fun little gen piece about Nita and Kit's wizarding practise, set at some indeterminate time post-Dilemma - actually, I guess this one is technically AU, but whatever, that's not really the spirit of it - point is, it's just a wee speculation about what Nita and Kit might do, wizard-wise, when they're not saving the planet in spectacular galaxy-travelling showdowns with the Lone Power.
Adjunct Talents
Tom and Carl's first meeting - there's actually a huge amount of T&C backstory this year, it is THRILLING. I really like this one a lot; like the other stocking filler for this recipient (A to Z), it's small but perfectly formed. And may I just say, thank you to whoever defaulted or was late with this, because we got three stories for the price of one and it's awesome.
This Story Isn't About Nita
A Kit POV during that difficult time in between Dilemma and Alone. Spoilerific, obvs; the way it was structured really reminded me how fond I am of Nita, how I relate to her, because even though she's barely in the fic the whole story is really focused around her in the same way the series is.
An Unwilling Heart
RUN, do NOT walk, to read this. It is HUGE for a yuletide fic - 87k - it's Carl backstory leading into Tom/Carl, but even if that's not your cup of tea I highly recommend this anyway, because it's also hardcore plotty. It's filled with details from the Concordance, it has a hysterical Peach, it explores everyone's favourite canon mystery. You won't be sorry.