Yuuuuuuletide Recs, Part Two!
Whoo! I have just barely made it through the Archive, with less than 24 hours to spare. Here are my recs for fandoms N to Z.
Fandoms include: Gentlemen of the Road - Michael Chabon, Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen, Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch, Romeo and Juliet, Sleepy Hollow, Swordspoint - Ellen Kushner, Tombstone, Twelfth Night, Untamed - Anna Cowan.
Northanger Abbey of Marin: Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen, T rated, 8.7k. No one who saw Catherine Moreland as a little girl could have supposed she was to be a heroine.
Fortunately, she'd discovered the wonder that was teen romances. Fortunately, she'd read Twilight.
It's Northanger Abbey retold as a college AU! I love this idea, and it works so well- funny and sweet and just perfect.
The Purple Jug: Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch, Peter/Nightingale, E rated, 5.8k. Nightingale and Peter on a case at a gay bar.
This is such the perfect fandom for these tropes- undercover as a couple, sex pollen- and it combines with a very nicely-done case-fic. This story is hilarious and wonderful and in just the tone of the series.
when my ways are not happening: Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch, Beverly Brook, T rated, 1.2k. Beverley has never been alone because she's always had her river. She just wishes that Peter would call.
Really well-done take on Beverly. I love the voice and the backstory this story gives her. I didn't know I wanted more about Beverly, but this story is exactly the answer to that need.
Folly to Be Wise: Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch, T rated, 6.7k. Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise.
Excellently done case-fic, with scary ghosts, great characterization, and hints of what exactly happened at Ettersberg. I could very much see this being part of the canon.
Nothing But One of Your Nine Lives: Romeo and Juliet, Tybalt, T rated, 1.8k. Tybalt has a secret.
What if Tybalt- Prince of Cats- actually had nine lives? Fantastic exploration of the idea and the character, and an ending that I just adore.
poetry that has not been written yet: Romeo and Juliet, Rosaline/Juliet, T rated, 1.2k. When Rosaline is a little girl, she likes flowers and pretty things. She likes old books, with cracked leather binding, with pages filled with fairy tales or intrigues or household accounts. She likes the curve of her cousin’s smile. She likes the sound of her laugh. She likes the sound of her name. She sounds it out. Juliet. Juli-et. It rhymes with well-met, regret.
It rhymes with poetry that has not been written yet.
I never would have thought of this pairing, but now I am totally shipping it. I love the characterization given to Rosaline here, and I love how these two interact.
some consequence yet hanging in the stars: Rómeó és Júlia (Színház), Mercutio, M rated, 2.8k. Five people Mercutio fucked and one he didn't: a character study of Verona.
Ah, this story is fantastic! Beautifully written, painful and bittersweet and so so good.
In Ice 'Til We Again Beheld The Dawn: Sleepy Hollow, Gen, T rated, 2.3k. Dante wrote that the ninth circle of hell was a lake of ice. So it was appropriate that Famine came to Sleepy Hollow in June of the fifth year, not with a drought but with a freak cold snap.
Crane, Abbie and Jenny, all alone in a post-apocalyptic world. I love the writing of this story; it really conveys the sense of horror and chill and desolation of the story.
Going On: Sleepy Hollow, Abbie and Jenny, G rated, 4.7k. Five moments in a Mills sisters Christmas. (The half has never been told.)
AH THIS STORY IS FANTASTIC. It is the Abbie and Jenny bonding story I have been waiting for! I love the mix of humor and adventure with more serious emotions, I love how deep and real and complicated the relationship between the sisters is, and I really, really love the fairytale Jenny reads to Abbie.
Matched Set: Sleepy Hollow, Gen, G rated, 4.3k. Sisters do not always make the best roommates, and witnesses to the end of days do not always make the best shopping buddies. Abbie's got to deal with both.
Abbie, Jenny, and Crane go to Ikea: chaos ensues. This story also has a wonderful mix of sweetness and sadness, and again I love how the relationships here are portrayed.
subtle power: Sleepy Hollow, Gen, T rated, 2.8k. Scenes from a Superhero AU.
In which Abbie and Crane are mistaken for superheroes rather than Witnesses, Jenny has her own secrets, and Macey is a hero. This is delightful and charming and I would read SO MUCH MORE of it.
Go Wash Your Heart in the River: Sleepy Hollow, Gen, T rated, 12.7k. The crow seems to be looking straight at Jenny, although that could just be her imagination. She doesn't think it is, though.
Really, really well-done case-fic from Jenny's POV. I love Jenny's characterization here, how she struggles to adjust to her new life, and the mix of real-world and supernatural horror in the case in perfect.
Elinor and Marianne: Sleepy Hollow, Gen, G rated, 4k. “Here’s what I figure,” Abbie said. “You need to catch up to modern culture. But you should catch up in stages. By degrees. Even Mark Twain was a little too far ahead for you, so let’s take it back a step. We’ll start you off with what’s closest to your time period, and move forward a few decades at a time until you’re back in the groove.”
So she starts Ichabod with a novel Corbin gave her long ago: Sense & Sensibility.
Man, this fandom is so good at mixing funny with seriousness, but here's another story that does it well. The charming, silly delight Crane takes in Austen is perfectly balanced by Abbie and Jenny's struggle to understand one another. Excellent story.
On Love, In Truth: Swordspoint - Ellen Kushner, Alec/Richard, T rated, 1k. Languishing in the harsh, brilliant light of an endless summer afternoon, Alec watches Richard practice against the wall of their sweltering room and wants.
Beautifully written story, vivid in its imagery and details. Richard and Alec and desire.
Musical Chairs: Tombstone, Morgan/Doc Holliday, M rated, 2.4k. There are men who want peace and all kinds of complicated things. Doc Holliday's never been one of them.
Fantastic story, with pitch-perfect dialogue. I love how charming and bitter Doc Holliday is her.
so full of shapes is fancy: Twelfth Night, T rated, 2k. In which Feste sits less like Patience on a monument smiling at grief, and more like Falstaff on a bar stool, laughing his ass off at contentment.
How can you not love a fic which is tagged with "everyone is poly because Shakespeare"? In which a masquerade ball turns into an orgy, and it is exactly the perfect sequel to the play. Oh, and it's also really, really funny.
The daughters of d'Artagnan: Untamed - Anna Cowan, G rated, 1.8k. And this is how we come together.
Okay, I know almost no one has read this book, but if by chance you have, you really really need to read this story! It perfectly captures the characters and their relationships, and it's just so charming and lovely.
And last but not least, my own gifts, which are wonderful and beautiful and deserve more attention:
The Robber Bridegroom, Swordspoint, Richard, G rated, 2k. He hoped his mother never found out. She'd sent him to the city to become a swordsman, not a highway robber.
Richard backstory! Richard as a highwayman! I love it!
Waning Season, Swordspoint, Richard/Alec, M rated, 2.3k. Someone is looking for St Vier and a dangerous secret. Unfortunately for him, Alec Campion finds him first. (Well, almost.)
Oh, this is sharp and violent and so lovely, and Alec is absolutely dangerous. I love it!!
On Lightning, Which Occasionally Strikes Twice, Gentlemen of the Road - Michael Chabon, M rated, 7.7k. Our heroes take a journey by sea, which they have cause to regret, and come to the tent of the feathered man, where they learn their fortunes and more.
Long plotty adventure story! H/C! Tenderness! I love it!
Fandoms include: Gentlemen of the Road - Michael Chabon, Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen, Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch, Romeo and Juliet, Sleepy Hollow, Swordspoint - Ellen Kushner, Tombstone, Twelfth Night, Untamed - Anna Cowan.
Northanger Abbey of Marin: Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen, T rated, 8.7k. No one who saw Catherine Moreland as a little girl could have supposed she was to be a heroine.
Fortunately, she'd discovered the wonder that was teen romances. Fortunately, she'd read Twilight.
It's Northanger Abbey retold as a college AU! I love this idea, and it works so well- funny and sweet and just perfect.
The Purple Jug: Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch, Peter/Nightingale, E rated, 5.8k. Nightingale and Peter on a case at a gay bar.
This is such the perfect fandom for these tropes- undercover as a couple, sex pollen- and it combines with a very nicely-done case-fic. This story is hilarious and wonderful and in just the tone of the series.
when my ways are not happening: Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch, Beverly Brook, T rated, 1.2k. Beverley has never been alone because she's always had her river. She just wishes that Peter would call.
Really well-done take on Beverly. I love the voice and the backstory this story gives her. I didn't know I wanted more about Beverly, but this story is exactly the answer to that need.
Folly to Be Wise: Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch, T rated, 6.7k. Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise.
Excellently done case-fic, with scary ghosts, great characterization, and hints of what exactly happened at Ettersberg. I could very much see this being part of the canon.
Nothing But One of Your Nine Lives: Romeo and Juliet, Tybalt, T rated, 1.8k. Tybalt has a secret.
What if Tybalt- Prince of Cats- actually had nine lives? Fantastic exploration of the idea and the character, and an ending that I just adore.
poetry that has not been written yet: Romeo and Juliet, Rosaline/Juliet, T rated, 1.2k. When Rosaline is a little girl, she likes flowers and pretty things. She likes old books, with cracked leather binding, with pages filled with fairy tales or intrigues or household accounts. She likes the curve of her cousin’s smile. She likes the sound of her laugh. She likes the sound of her name. She sounds it out. Juliet. Juli-et. It rhymes with well-met, regret.
It rhymes with poetry that has not been written yet.
I never would have thought of this pairing, but now I am totally shipping it. I love the characterization given to Rosaline here, and I love how these two interact.
some consequence yet hanging in the stars: Rómeó és Júlia (Színház), Mercutio, M rated, 2.8k. Five people Mercutio fucked and one he didn't: a character study of Verona.
Ah, this story is fantastic! Beautifully written, painful and bittersweet and so so good.
In Ice 'Til We Again Beheld The Dawn: Sleepy Hollow, Gen, T rated, 2.3k. Dante wrote that the ninth circle of hell was a lake of ice. So it was appropriate that Famine came to Sleepy Hollow in June of the fifth year, not with a drought but with a freak cold snap.
Crane, Abbie and Jenny, all alone in a post-apocalyptic world. I love the writing of this story; it really conveys the sense of horror and chill and desolation of the story.
Going On: Sleepy Hollow, Abbie and Jenny, G rated, 4.7k. Five moments in a Mills sisters Christmas. (The half has never been told.)
AH THIS STORY IS FANTASTIC. It is the Abbie and Jenny bonding story I have been waiting for! I love the mix of humor and adventure with more serious emotions, I love how deep and real and complicated the relationship between the sisters is, and I really, really love the fairytale Jenny reads to Abbie.
Matched Set: Sleepy Hollow, Gen, G rated, 4.3k. Sisters do not always make the best roommates, and witnesses to the end of days do not always make the best shopping buddies. Abbie's got to deal with both.
Abbie, Jenny, and Crane go to Ikea: chaos ensues. This story also has a wonderful mix of sweetness and sadness, and again I love how the relationships here are portrayed.
subtle power: Sleepy Hollow, Gen, T rated, 2.8k. Scenes from a Superhero AU.
In which Abbie and Crane are mistaken for superheroes rather than Witnesses, Jenny has her own secrets, and Macey is a hero. This is delightful and charming and I would read SO MUCH MORE of it.
Go Wash Your Heart in the River: Sleepy Hollow, Gen, T rated, 12.7k. The crow seems to be looking straight at Jenny, although that could just be her imagination. She doesn't think it is, though.
Really, really well-done case-fic from Jenny's POV. I love Jenny's characterization here, how she struggles to adjust to her new life, and the mix of real-world and supernatural horror in the case in perfect.
Elinor and Marianne: Sleepy Hollow, Gen, G rated, 4k. “Here’s what I figure,” Abbie said. “You need to catch up to modern culture. But you should catch up in stages. By degrees. Even Mark Twain was a little too far ahead for you, so let’s take it back a step. We’ll start you off with what’s closest to your time period, and move forward a few decades at a time until you’re back in the groove.”
So she starts Ichabod with a novel Corbin gave her long ago: Sense & Sensibility.
Man, this fandom is so good at mixing funny with seriousness, but here's another story that does it well. The charming, silly delight Crane takes in Austen is perfectly balanced by Abbie and Jenny's struggle to understand one another. Excellent story.
On Love, In Truth: Swordspoint - Ellen Kushner, Alec/Richard, T rated, 1k. Languishing in the harsh, brilliant light of an endless summer afternoon, Alec watches Richard practice against the wall of their sweltering room and wants.
Beautifully written story, vivid in its imagery and details. Richard and Alec and desire.
Musical Chairs: Tombstone, Morgan/Doc Holliday, M rated, 2.4k. There are men who want peace and all kinds of complicated things. Doc Holliday's never been one of them.
Fantastic story, with pitch-perfect dialogue. I love how charming and bitter Doc Holliday is her.
so full of shapes is fancy: Twelfth Night, T rated, 2k. In which Feste sits less like Patience on a monument smiling at grief, and more like Falstaff on a bar stool, laughing his ass off at contentment.
How can you not love a fic which is tagged with "everyone is poly because Shakespeare"? In which a masquerade ball turns into an orgy, and it is exactly the perfect sequel to the play. Oh, and it's also really, really funny.
The daughters of d'Artagnan: Untamed - Anna Cowan, G rated, 1.8k. And this is how we come together.
Okay, I know almost no one has read this book, but if by chance you have, you really really need to read this story! It perfectly captures the characters and their relationships, and it's just so charming and lovely.
And last but not least, my own gifts, which are wonderful and beautiful and deserve more attention:
The Robber Bridegroom, Swordspoint, Richard, G rated, 2k. He hoped his mother never found out. She'd sent him to the city to become a swordsman, not a highway robber.
Richard backstory! Richard as a highwayman! I love it!
Waning Season, Swordspoint, Richard/Alec, M rated, 2.3k. Someone is looking for St Vier and a dangerous secret. Unfortunately for him, Alec Campion finds him first. (Well, almost.)
Oh, this is sharp and violent and so lovely, and Alec is absolutely dangerous. I love it!!
On Lightning, Which Occasionally Strikes Twice, Gentlemen of the Road - Michael Chabon, M rated, 7.7k. Our heroes take a journey by sea, which they have cause to regret, and come to the tent of the feathered man, where they learn their fortunes and more.
Long plotty adventure story! H/C! Tenderness! I love it!