Yuletide 2012 Recs x 10
Happy New Year to all whose new year it is!
I read recs in fandoms I know, and after that go alphabetically by fandom. So far, I'm only as far as the start of D, but I decided I should do a post of the recs I've collected so far, quickly before author reveal takes place. I'll follow it up after that with some more.
I know some of these stories have already been rec'd on yuletide, but I'm posting this to my journal too.
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AO3 Tags
The Bar at the End of Fandom (3911 words)
Rating: Mature
Summary: PWP walks into a bar...
Pure crack - delightfully so! The reader has to be very genre-savvy for fandom to get all the in-jokes, but it's absolutely worth it. I spent most of this story smirking in recognition and amusement. Don't have a drink while you read this, just in case.
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Charlotte Sometimes - Penelope Farmer
And a Time for Every Purpose (2585 words)
Rating: General
Character(s): Charlotte Mary Makepeace, Clare Moby, Emily Moby, Marjorie "Bunty", Elizabeth
Relationship(s): Clare Moby/Elizabeth
Summary: One last letter from Clare reveals some surprising information. (Warning for mention but not depiction of canon major character death.)
First let me say that anyone who hasn't read the book before they read this, should do that first, otherwise you'll be spoiled completely, and I don't recommend that, as it takes away a large part of the impact of the book's second half.
This story was my gift, and it is beautiful. I asked to hear Clare's side of the story, and here it's done brilliantly. Clare's voice in her letter comes through clearly; it's perfect, with the extra touch of something unexpected. Seeing Clare as a less passive being than how we saw her from Charlotte's perspective is really wonderful.
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Discworld - Terry Pratchett
A Trip To Lancre (2613 words)
Rating: General
Character(s): Tiffany Aching, Magrat Garlick, Gytha Ogg, Sybil Ramkin, Verence II, Sam Vimes, Young Sam Vimes, Esme Weatherwax, Esmerelda Margaret Note Spelling of Lancre
Relationship(s): Sybil Ramkin/Sam Vimes
Summary: The Patrician is invited to attend the coming of age ceremony for the princess of Lancre. He sends Sam Vimes instead.
Great piece on Vimes' visit to Lancre with his family, and the people he meets there, some of whom he's met before. It's very interesting to see some of the characters from Vimes' perspective instead of others, as a change, and some of the character voices in this story are really good.
First and Foremost (2988 words)
Rating: General
Character(s): Sacharissa Cripslock, Sally von Humpeding, Cheery Littlebottom, Angua von Uberwald
Relationship(s): Carrot Ironfoundersson/Angua von Uberwald
Summary: From Angua's office, with the door cracked, being a captain wasn't all that different from being a sergeant.
Lovely piece focusing on the characters' roles in their society, and how people are often seen as one thing first above all others - like Angua, who is a werewolf, a woman and an officer of the Watch all at once. And how, perhaps, they shouldn't be.
Going It Alone (1983 words)
Rating: General
Character(s): Esme Weatherwax, Gytha Ogg, Mustrum Ridcully
Relationship(s): Mustrum Ridcully/Esme Weatherwax
Summary: Some walked the path to a witch's door with fearful desperation; some walked it with false bravado, and some with foolish daydreams. Esme walked it with a tent, and set it up on the lawn.
I just love this fic. And there's so much love for Esme Weatherwax in this story, at all ages. It's gorgeous. Whoever wrote it managed to get right inside her head in my own headcanon, and that takes some doing...
On Being Female (1141 words)
Rating: General
Character(s): Carrot Ironfoundersson, Sam Vimes
Summary: It began, as did so many bewilderments small and large, with a declaration by Captain Carrot.
The story here is quite short and could do with expansion on the themes - which in themselves are very interesting ideas - but I'm rec'ing this primarily because the author has just perfect voices for both Carrot and Vimes. Always worth reading when that happens.
Some Time Before (7080 words)
Rating: Teen
Character(s): Adora Belle Dearheart, Moist von Lipwig, Sybil Ramkin, Sam Vimes
Relationship(s): Adora Belle Dearheart/Moist von Lipwig, Sybil Ramkin/Sam Vimes
Summary: The thing about being young is that it happens to most everyone.
Again, excellent character voices, and some really sweet insights into the childhood and later youth of all the aforementioned characters, as well as some of the adulthood of all of them that we see in canon.
Soul Cake (2247 words)
Rating: General
Character(s): Carrot Ironfoundersson, Cheery Littlebottom, Angua von Uberwald, Sam Vimes
Relationship(s): Carrot Ironfoundersson/Angua von Uberwald
Summary: The time Carrot went to visit his family and missed the end of the world. A dwarf, a wolf and a soul cake duck.
Not really about the end of the world so much as about what Carrot and Angua did while it was supposed to be happening, and why it was meant to happen. Angua's worries on meeting Carrot's family and Carrot's feelings about rain and royalty are all here, excellently portrayed in style, minus the footnotes.
---
Final Fantasy VI
In the Nuclear Season (14575 words)
Rating: Teen
Character(s): Terra Branford, Locke Cole, Duane, Katarin
Relationship(s): Terra Branford/Locke Cole
Summary: Terra in an uncharted world.
Beautiful, lengthy World of Ruin piece from Terra's point-of-view. I love how this story manages to get inside her head so well, which is not an easy thing to do for someone not quite human, and shows how she learns about humanity and her own take on it after their sort-of-apocalypse.
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Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch
Ghosts of Ettersberg
Rating: Mature
Character(s): Peter Grant, Thomas Nightingale
Relationship(s): Thomas Nightingale/Original Male Character
Summary: There's more than one kind of ghost, and more than one kind of absence.
A dark, retrospective story looking back on the Holocaust and World War II. Very well drawn and voiced, and gives a good look at Nightingale with a touch of slash in a way that doesn't feel tacked-on like it sometimes might in a fandom of this sort.
This one can be read and understood just fine even if you've only read Rivers of London so far (I'm part way through Moon Over Soho myself).
I read recs in fandoms I know, and after that go alphabetically by fandom. So far, I'm only as far as the start of D, but I decided I should do a post of the recs I've collected so far, quickly before author reveal takes place. I'll follow it up after that with some more.
I know some of these stories have already been rec'd on yuletide, but I'm posting this to my journal too.
---
AO3 Tags
The Bar at the End of Fandom (3911 words)
Rating: Mature
Summary: PWP walks into a bar...
Pure crack - delightfully so! The reader has to be very genre-savvy for fandom to get all the in-jokes, but it's absolutely worth it. I spent most of this story smirking in recognition and amusement. Don't have a drink while you read this, just in case.
---
Charlotte Sometimes - Penelope Farmer
And a Time for Every Purpose (2585 words)
Rating: General
Character(s): Charlotte Mary Makepeace, Clare Moby, Emily Moby, Marjorie "Bunty", Elizabeth
Relationship(s): Clare Moby/Elizabeth
Summary: One last letter from Clare reveals some surprising information. (Warning for mention but not depiction of canon major character death.)
First let me say that anyone who hasn't read the book before they read this, should do that first, otherwise you'll be spoiled completely, and I don't recommend that, as it takes away a large part of the impact of the book's second half.
This story was my gift, and it is beautiful. I asked to hear Clare's side of the story, and here it's done brilliantly. Clare's voice in her letter comes through clearly; it's perfect, with the extra touch of something unexpected. Seeing Clare as a less passive being than how we saw her from Charlotte's perspective is really wonderful.
---
Discworld - Terry Pratchett
A Trip To Lancre (2613 words)
Rating: General
Character(s): Tiffany Aching, Magrat Garlick, Gytha Ogg, Sybil Ramkin, Verence II, Sam Vimes, Young Sam Vimes, Esme Weatherwax, Esmerelda Margaret Note Spelling of Lancre
Relationship(s): Sybil Ramkin/Sam Vimes
Summary: The Patrician is invited to attend the coming of age ceremony for the princess of Lancre. He sends Sam Vimes instead.
Great piece on Vimes' visit to Lancre with his family, and the people he meets there, some of whom he's met before. It's very interesting to see some of the characters from Vimes' perspective instead of others, as a change, and some of the character voices in this story are really good.
First and Foremost (2988 words)
Rating: General
Character(s): Sacharissa Cripslock, Sally von Humpeding, Cheery Littlebottom, Angua von Uberwald
Relationship(s): Carrot Ironfoundersson/Angua von Uberwald
Summary: From Angua's office, with the door cracked, being a captain wasn't all that different from being a sergeant.
Lovely piece focusing on the characters' roles in their society, and how people are often seen as one thing first above all others - like Angua, who is a werewolf, a woman and an officer of the Watch all at once. And how, perhaps, they shouldn't be.
Going It Alone (1983 words)
Rating: General
Character(s): Esme Weatherwax, Gytha Ogg, Mustrum Ridcully
Relationship(s): Mustrum Ridcully/Esme Weatherwax
Summary: Some walked the path to a witch's door with fearful desperation; some walked it with false bravado, and some with foolish daydreams. Esme walked it with a tent, and set it up on the lawn.
I just love this fic. And there's so much love for Esme Weatherwax in this story, at all ages. It's gorgeous. Whoever wrote it managed to get right inside her head in my own headcanon, and that takes some doing...
On Being Female (1141 words)
Rating: General
Character(s): Carrot Ironfoundersson, Sam Vimes
Summary: It began, as did so many bewilderments small and large, with a declaration by Captain Carrot.
The story here is quite short and could do with expansion on the themes - which in themselves are very interesting ideas - but I'm rec'ing this primarily because the author has just perfect voices for both Carrot and Vimes. Always worth reading when that happens.
Some Time Before (7080 words)
Rating: Teen
Character(s): Adora Belle Dearheart, Moist von Lipwig, Sybil Ramkin, Sam Vimes
Relationship(s): Adora Belle Dearheart/Moist von Lipwig, Sybil Ramkin/Sam Vimes
Summary: The thing about being young is that it happens to most everyone.
Again, excellent character voices, and some really sweet insights into the childhood and later youth of all the aforementioned characters, as well as some of the adulthood of all of them that we see in canon.
Soul Cake (2247 words)
Rating: General
Character(s): Carrot Ironfoundersson, Cheery Littlebottom, Angua von Uberwald, Sam Vimes
Relationship(s): Carrot Ironfoundersson/Angua von Uberwald
Summary: The time Carrot went to visit his family and missed the end of the world. A dwarf, a wolf and a soul cake duck.
Not really about the end of the world so much as about what Carrot and Angua did while it was supposed to be happening, and why it was meant to happen. Angua's worries on meeting Carrot's family and Carrot's feelings about rain and royalty are all here, excellently portrayed in style, minus the footnotes.
---
Final Fantasy VI
In the Nuclear Season (14575 words)
Rating: Teen
Character(s): Terra Branford, Locke Cole, Duane, Katarin
Relationship(s): Terra Branford/Locke Cole
Summary: Terra in an uncharted world.
Beautiful, lengthy World of Ruin piece from Terra's point-of-view. I love how this story manages to get inside her head so well, which is not an easy thing to do for someone not quite human, and shows how she learns about humanity and her own take on it after their sort-of-apocalypse.
---
Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch
Ghosts of Ettersberg
Rating: Mature
Character(s): Peter Grant, Thomas Nightingale
Relationship(s): Thomas Nightingale/Original Male Character
Summary: There's more than one kind of ghost, and more than one kind of absence.
A dark, retrospective story looking back on the Holocaust and World War II. Very well drawn and voiced, and gives a good look at Nightingale with a touch of slash in a way that doesn't feel tacked-on like it sometimes might in a fandom of this sort.
This one can be read and understood just fine even if you've only read Rivers of London so far (I'm part way through Moon Over Soho myself).