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

[asweetdownfall.livejournal.com]

Oh my heck, how are you so amazing, Jay. O_________O That was a rhetorical question, btw. ;P

And awww, thank you for the recs! Especially The Hunger Games ones. ♥ ___________________♥

ETA: AND THERE IS RACHEL MADDOW FIC?!! BE STILL MY HEART.

[duckgirlie.livejournal.com]

I loved the Discworld fic that yuletide springs up, especially as so much of it focuses on the awesome ladies. (Last year, I got two ladies-of-Ankh-Morpork-being-awesome fics)

And I can't believe I missed the Rachel one! I've been very erratically on line lately (transferring to a new laptop) and I have heardly left feedback on anything.

[frackin-sweet.livejournal.com]

Sooooo, don't take this the wrong way, but I TOTALLY HATE YOU FOR THE ROAD REC, BECAUSE I WAS CRYING AT ABOUT 7.4 WORDS IN. Ok, it took longer than that, but still, jeez!

If I were feeling more objective, I'd say that was exactly the story I wanted, after the way it ended.

I'm going to come back & read the other stuff later. Except maybe the one in 2nd person, cuz, yk ;)

BBL READING THAT STORY AGAIN AND HAVING A TOTAL BREADOWN.

[tristantrakand.livejournal.com]

The beginning of "Fairytales" seems a bit different than what I'm used to in your work. The sentences are clipped and abrupt (that isn't really the word I'd use, but it's the only one that comes to mind right now). Not that there's anything wrong with that. Just different for me. To quote you: "Not different bad. Different different." LOL What the hell this comment makes no sense. I just woke up and that's my excuse. BUT everything is back to normal by the time DCook calls Kris.

The Sausalito sun was scorching, but Archie wasn't feeling the heat. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he was currently wearing a tight t-shirt and tighter swimming trunks that his stylist had picked out.

I can already picture him squirming. LOL

Archie was pretty sure his blush didn’t go with his t-shirt, but there wasn’t much he could do about it.

BWAHAHAHA


Then he tried to steer Kellie and their drinks to a shaded part of the yacht - this was kind of difficult because he was trying to be a gentleman and not touch any unclothed part of her, and she was, like, 95 per cent unclothed.

I like how you convey Archie's awkwardness here. You don't descend into an Archie internal dialogue replete with smatterings of "Oh gosh!" It's very straight to the point and yet very descriptive. I can see him in my head doing the awkward hand motions and stuff.

I will confess to having no freaking idea who Aaron Kelly is. I had to Google him. XD Not a big fan of Season 9 here. XD

“I just think the first world needs to reach out its hands to India and China and help incentivize the governments to implement carbon emission laws, not just criticize, you know?” she said, chipping her neon-green ball over a replica of the Taj Mahal, and Cook made a mental promise to buy some carbon credits to offset his SUV fuel consumption.

I do not know why I found this funny. But I did! XD

Archie sent Cook a direct message that said, REALLY GOSH WHAT,

BWAHAHAHAHA

felt himself Kris' tongue sweep over his,

?

I loved it! Feels really good to be reading your fics again! :D

[rajkumari905.livejournal.com]

The friendship fic you wrote was soooooooo sweet <3