Fic: Yuletidiness - gift received, gifts given, reccs

[labyrinth2015]

Holiday Hangover Thing the Second: Yuletide, the time of greatest mirth and joyance among men, and also the time for writers to exchange fanfic gifts in rare fandoms (ranging from Goodnight Moon to Top Gear RPF to Terry Pratchett's Discworld) hosted on the Archive of Our Own. This was my first year participating, and I have cincodemaygirl to thank for holding my hand and speaking very slowly and calmly when she talked me through the rules and offering and requesting and whatnot.

I might have been initially intimidated, but I had the best experience! I requested stories in Guy Gavriel Kay's Sarantine Mosiac and Lions of Al-Rassan fandoms, vintage Battlestar Galactica, and Gabriel Knight adventure game.

And I received the most incredible story:
What Lies in Books, by prolific profic writer russian_blue
Gabriel/Grace, Gabriel/von Glower, [Mature], 4,064 words.

This was the Gabriel Knight story I most desired when I signed up for Yuletide 2010, a story that discussed the relationship between Gabe and his nearest and dearest, that let us see how far Gabe had come, post-The Beast Within while staying true to his canon self. It has everything I loved about the game: a historical setting, an intricate plot that was the perfect framework to explore Gabe's hopes for Grace, his desires for Friedrich and the darkness within, and, at the heart of it, his own strengths and weaknesses. Oh, and cameo by Silvio Berlusconi :)

The reason didn't matter, only the result. He was learning to control it. Bit by bit, starting with the medallion, until he could touch it without screaming, as Friedrich had done. There had to be truth in the hunting club's philosophy, the notion that the beast within could be a source of strength. That he could master it, and not become a monster.

...Gabriel forced his lips into a smile. Ludwig had done it, the pansy-ass bastard, at least for a while; a Schattenjäger could surely do better.

In another corner of Yuletide, I wrote this Cook/Archie friendship fic:
Fairytales Can Come True, It Could Happen To You for poppetawoppet
David Archuleta, David Cook, [Gen], various pairings, [PG-13], 11,110 words.
Davids Archuleta and Cook go to extremes with impossible schemes: life's more exciting for them with each passing day, with love either in their hearts, or - thanks to their own judicious plotting - on its way. All-singing, all-dating, multiple pairings, crossover with Country Music RPF and Kris Allen Band.

And I also wandered out to Bruce Springsteen fandom, to make this:
Cars & Girls for twistedchick
From Springsteen's Born to Run (album), various pairings, [PG-13], 767 words.
Life's a highway: these two lanes can take us anywhere. Three stories about cars and girls.

Sending much love to my Yulegoat, my gracious recipients and betas frackin_sweet, cincodemaygirl and likeadeuce!

Various other amazing Yuletide stories which I think my non-Yuletiding f-listers might enjoy:

Fish in a Barrel by gileonnen.
Hunger Games Trilogy, Finnick Odair Gen., [Explicit - Violence], 8,000+ words
You've trained your whole life for this moment: The moment when you rise into the arena and cheat the odds. The Sixty-Fifth Hunger Games are about to begin. This is where his story starts; this is where he begins. Perfect second person voice.

Achilles Heel by mithrigil.
Hunger Games Trilogy, Finnick Odair Gen., [Mature], 9,000+ words
Finnick’s Games. The ones he plays in, the ones he wins, and the ones he’s still a pawn in ever after. Her Finnick is gorgeous, and her Cinna and his designs truly illuminate.

Carrying A Concealed Weapon (and other crimes to commit while being Adora Belle Dearheart) by Netgirl_y2k.
Discworld, Adora Belle Dearheart Gen., [G], 2,000+ words
Adora Belle is arrested, Lady Sybil is there to help, or at least there to make the tea. When I grow up, I think I want to be Adora Belle, but I really want to be Sybil.

Seven Prayers to Papa (Because the Boy Never Forgot) , by murielle
Cormac McCarthy's The Road, Gen., [G], 3,000+ words
The boy goes with the man and the woman and the boy and the girl ..... Post-story, futurefic, spoilers abound. And it made me cry, seriously.

Intrepid Journalist Rachel Maddow Meets A Very Modern [And Political] Sleeping Beauty, by thecolourclear
Rachel Maddow Pundit RPF/Fairytales Gen., [Unrated], 1,500+ words
In Far Far Away, the Princess goes missing and Rachel Maddow investigates. A modern take on Sleeping Beauty, with a few ... twists. The first twist being Rachel Maddow. Awesome updated Sleeping Beauty femslash story, featuring the RL dragon-and-obstacles-defeating prowess of the glorious Rachel Maddow.

Achieving Good Relations With the Media in Five Easy Steps, by Kristopher N. Allen by stickmarionette
Kris Allen Band, Kris/Jim Cantiello, [G], 2,500+ words
Kris Allen, Jim Cantiello and the humble beginnings of a beautiful friendship. Krim? Totally canon, and here, deftly told.

This entry was originally posted on dreamwidth; you can choose to read it there.

Comments

[duckgirlie.livejournal.com]

Yeah, a lot of the misc categories are like that, which is why lots of the characters in them only have one or two stories for them. That's always the problem with declaring a fandom rare when you can re-position most of the people in it into a different fandom without much trouble. There was a big struggle to get AI1-6 back in there, because they initially decided to amalgamate all the AIs this year, which wasn't really fair as only 7&8 are big enough to qualify as proper fandoms, which knocked Ryan/Simon out as well. (which would have been fine, if they'd been warned in advance that that was going to happen, and someone could have made a 'misc tv presenters' catagory or something)

I've been doing yuletide since about 2005, I think, but I've generally not been involved with the yuletide-as-fandom/meta side of things. I just write/read my stories and leave it at that.

[jehane-writes.livejournal.com]

I actually donut get how AI1-6 does not include Ryan/Simon. I mean, it's a rare pairing, and I am sure people would have asked for it if it had been available.

I would actually not be unhappy if Cook/Archie wasn't available next year, though I will prob continue to offer it if it is and is requested, and I did try to contribute to other obscurer fandoms by writing a wee treat for Springsteen fandom!

[duckgirlie.livejournal.com]

It does now, they put 1-6 back in after a couple of appeals went in about it. I used to put down fandoms I'd already written under the old system, when you could sign up for as many as you wanted, but this year I only went with rarer things. It's part of the fun of it, I think.

[jehane-writes.livejournal.com]

Yeah, and then sadly nobody offered or was matched on it, because there's no fic this year!

Yeah, next year I'll probably do that, focus on the rarer things. It was fun; I had an awesome time ;)