I got TWO gifts this year!

Seafoam Green, Bright Sessions. Caleb and Adam meet again after they’ve both graduated from college, and they’ve still got the same chemistry. It’s from Caleb’s POV, and it’s sweet and adorable and awkward in all of the best ways that the Caleb/Adam relationship always is, plus some lovely imagery describing Caleb’s empathy. When Adam’s emotions are green, everything is going to be okay.

Magic in the Air, Benjamin January Mysteries. It’s a Harry Potter AU! Crossovers are some of my favorite things in Yuletide, especially the ones that add magic to non-magical settings. This is exactly the kind of re-imagined setting that I love! The Januarys are hosting a Christmas party in 1967…which means that the first war with Voldemort is on the horizon, and everyone is holding on tight to the happiness that they’ve found together.


Here are my other recs:
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Dear Yuletide 2019 Author,

Thank you! I'm already happy and flattered that you would take the time to write a gift for me.

All of my previous posts about Yuletide are public under my Yuletide tag, so you can see what kinds of stories I've received, written, and liked in the past.

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Yuletide recs!

I received a really wonderful fic this year: smiling, smiling, The Bone Key. Claudia takes the lead in a spooky yet hopeful casefic, and deepens her friendship with Kyle. Full of well-researched history, and with a great representation of Claudia's courage.

Here are some other stories I loved this year!

( 19 more recs in 13 fandoms plus 4 crossoversCollapse )

Dear Yuletide 2018 Author

Thank you! I'm already happy and flattered that you would take the time to write a gift for me.

All of my previous posts about Yuletide are public under my Yuletide tag, so you can see what kinds of stories I've received, written, and liked in the past.

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It's Yuletide! I have been doing a lot of reading, so here are a bunch of stories that I liked. I'm sure I've missed some, so if you've got recs, please send them my way!

(Disclaimer: a few of these I betaed, but will refrain from saying which ones for the sake of Yuletide anonymity.)

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( The Undefinable Spirit of YuletideCollapse )

Dear Yuletide 2015 Author,

Thank you! I'm already happy and flattered that you would take the time to write a gift for me.

All of my previous posts about Yuletide are public under my Yuletide tag, so you can see what kinds of stories I've received, written, and liked in the past.

( Fandoms, characters, and general preferences are behind the cutCollapse )

Dear Purimgifts Writer,

First of all, thank you! It is awesome that you're writing gifts for me. Here's a guide to my likes, dislikes, and wishes. They're fairly brief, in keeping with the guidelines of the exchange, and they mostly have to do with which characters are my favorites. But if you're the kind of author who likes more details, all of my Yuletide requests and recs are public, which should give you some more ideas about the kinds of stories I like.

( Likes, Dislikes, and Specific Requests, all behind the cutCollapse )

I am back at my own place, but continuing in a holiday-induced fit of lethargy. Today I have succeeded in paying bills and answering two work emails. Otherwise, I'm playing silly Facebook games and reading Yuletide. whee! Here are my last bunch of recs:

The Emerald Band, A Study in Emerald. AMAZING. Meticulous worldbuilding, a well-constructed mystery, note-perfect style, and some excellent backstory into medieval history.

Exile's Rose, Fallen London. Parser IF! You're on a ship belonging to your lover, the Once-Dashing Smuggler, where you learn about him and about yourself. Beautiful, intricate, mysterious, creepy.

One Good Reason, Craft Sequence. How awesome is it that my friends' books are having fanfic written about them? This was my favorite: the opening is "Cat doesn’t know how she feels when Seril asks her to keep an eye on Tara." It's a lovely exploration of Cat and Tara circling each other in the aftermath of Three Parts Dead.

There's also The Heart Grows Fonder, which has a Choice of the Deathless crossover! Vega comes to Alt Coulomb and crosses paths and swords with Tara. (There were other Choice of the Deathless stories, but they were all sex scenes, so they were not my cup of tea.)

Sparkle Balls, Corner Gas. Davis wants sparkly things for the Dog River Days Parade, so Karen, Wanda, and Hank make sure to get them. It feels like an episode of the show, especially the Wanda bits, and there's some fun Lacey, too.

From the Mountains of Un, Phantom Tollbooth. Amazing replication of the original tone, especially the puns. The Literary Cannon is my favorite.

Lots of good Sleepy Hollow stories this year!
- First, I must re-plug the one written for me: A Mountain You Scale Without Thinking of Size, in which Jenny and Macey finally get that conversation that I'd been hoping to see at the end of Season 1.

- Second, there's Without Thought of Thorns. Abbie gets herself out of Purgatory. This one is very dark and disturbing - it shows Abbie and Jenny's abusive father, and has some pretty gruesome imagery. But I'm still recommending it, because it is beautifully written. Abbie's voice is amazing, especially at the beginning when she's in problem-solving mode, and the ending is heartbreaking and gorgeous.

- And finally, on the other end of the spectrum is A Day of Publick Thanksgiving. The gang has Thanksgiving at Frank's! Macey knits, snarks, crushes adorably on Ichabod, kicks butt, and is generally hilarious and cute and awesome. Ichabod rants about 18th-century people, and Abbie and Jenny laugh modernly at him! And there's some real depth among the humor, too.

Nights of Yes or No, Steerswoman Series. Rowan discusses history, genealogy, and stars with some of her colleagues, and discovers love with Bel. (I knew I couldn't be the only one out there who wanted Rowan and Bel to get together!)

If It's Sewing, She Sews, West Side Story. Fashion changes in the ten years after the play ends, and New York changes, and Maria sews wedding gowns, and grows and heals.

Ex Nihilo Nihil Fit, Wolf Hall. It takes a lot of courage to write a Wolf Hall story, and a lot of skill to pull off something as stylized as this. It all works, and it's brilliant.

What else have you read that you liked? I'd love to hear more recs!

More Yuletide recs!

Good Cause, Lizzie Bennet Diaries. I'd never envisioned Lydia and Gigi as a couple, but it actually works! The best things about this story, though, are the Lydia-Lizzie relationship, and the author's vision of how Lydia has grown over the last two years.

The Real Thing, Mad Men. Everyone's voices are great here: Stan's blue humor, Roger's snark, and the creative sparks that fly once Don and Peggy get a chance to talk to each other.

Where Have All the Cowboys Gone, Middleman. In an AU where Wendy has become the Middlewoman, she and Tyler get kidnapped by nanobots! The unstoppable force of Lacey runs up against the immovable object of the retired Middleman, and they team up to save them. Tons of fun - witty writing, clever plots, just the right amount of imitation of the original characters' voices and speech patterns. And of course, some Lacey/Middleman shippy goodness.

The Guardians, Mulan. Mulan's brave and smart daughter goes in search of the lost Fa family guardian. Lovely lyrical writing - and somehow it manages to make Mushu still sound like he did in the movie, except not annoying!

Back Doors,Neverwhere. The Marquis de Carabas wheels and deals his way to saving the Floating Market. Beautiful, creative, and surreal in a way that perfectly captures the spirit of the original.

Two Monks Invent Mr. Darcy, for longwhitecoats HILARIOUS. There is an upsetting cravat situation. Also, Wishbone. Go read this now and laugh!

There were a ton of Orphan Black stories this year! Here are two of my favorites:
Just Come On Home has Helena, Cosima, and Delphine on a road trip. Mostly Helena's POV as she watches Cosima and Delphine love and support each other, with a good mixture of funny and sweet.

The Individual in All Possible Forms, Cosima POV. Why she goes along with Dyad, how she relates to Felix, and why she might not have such a blind spot where it comes to Delphine after all.

Paradox, Connie Willis's Oxford Time Travel Universe. The introduction to a festschrift for Professor Dunworthy on his retirement. Insightful little windows into academic time-travel history, and beautiful commentary on what it means to be a historian, now and always. I'd be willing to bet that the author is an academic, because the tone is perfect. (And they reference John Boswell! Author, do I know you?)

More Lovely and More Temperate, Slings and Arrows. Everything I love about Slings and Arrows - Anna's adorable practicality, Nahum's little bits of profundity, Geoffrey's connections with his actors that emerge without him realizing it, and that moment when Geoffrey starts talking about Shakespeare and it's about Shakespeare, but really about himself, too. Absolutely gorgeous!

Greetings from Mom's house, where I have been busily working my way through Yuletide stories! Here are some recs.

The best comes first: two absolutely hilarious Great British Bake Off stories!

First, The Malteser Falcon,, for longwhitecoats, whose request I happened to see and desperately hoped someone would do. And here it is! Sue is a noir detective, Mel is her secretary, Mary is the crime boss known as The Pastry Queen. THIS IS HILARIOUS. Great comic timing, perfect cooking metaphors, a little romance, and an appearance by one of my favorite past contestants.

Second, The Classified British Bake Off. EVERYONE is on the Great British Bake Off! The Leverage crew investigates Black Widow, Molly Weasley incorporates her sons' candies into her cake, Abbie Mills tells off Paul (and teams up with Greg Lestrade) while Ichabod grumps nearby. Oh yeah, and there's some Star Trek and Hannibal, too. Trust me, it works. It hits every single note that you want it to hit when these characters are in a story together. There is an awesome fight, hilarious banter, some moments of TOTAL CRACK, and some actual good cooking. Plus, Mary says 'soggy bottom' a lot.

And now on to the rest!

Having Been Broken, Alphas. After the Season 2 finale, the team tries to move forward without Dr. Rosen. It's Gary's POV, which I appreciate - I especially like his voice at the beginning.

Pink Elephants On Parade, Kavalier and Clay. Sammy and Tracy go to see Dumbo, but what this story is really about is images and art and the way that nothing is what it seems, but sometimes that's okay. Beautiful language in this one.

Chicken Money, Anne of Green Gables. Lots of Anne of Green Gables stories this year! This is my favorite, because it gets the tone of Matthew, Marilla, and little Anne absolutely right. The conversation between Matthew and Marilla at the beginning is especially wonderful.

Love is Friendship that has Caught Fire, Bend It Like Beckham. Jess/Jules, tagged 'Food as Metaphor for Love.' Deeply funny, deeply sweet, and with incredible emotional authenticity.

Where The Streets Have My Name, Discworld. Sam Vimes feels disoriented in the country, until he meets Tiffany Aching. The Ankh-Morpork superhero comics are worth the price of admission, but this story also has some very Pratchett-esque emotional depth mixed in with the humor.

Harriet Approved, Emma Approved. Adorable scheming, funny misunderstandings, meddling matchmaking, a sweet Harriet POV, and excellent shoes - everything I want in an Emma Approved fic. Hell yeah!

With A Girl Like You, Endeavour. More Jakes than I ordinarily want, but in a story set after 'Neverland,' there has to be some resolution with Jakes, and it's very very good resolution. And anyway, this is mostly Monica POV, which is absolutely wonderful. She's smart and perceptive and competent and practical, and her own agenda comes through.

Learning the Rules, The Goblin Emperor. Maia learns how to play chess, and is just as adorable and insecure and full of integrity as he always is.

The Banishing of Winter, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. Spinning off of a brief mention of the Raven King's banishing of winter, this story has pseudo-academic commentary, economical storytelling, and lovely winter imagery. Perfect and beautiful.

Diabolical Disturbance, Keeping Up Appearances. Hyacinth Bucket hears Something outside her window, and will stop at nothing to find out what it is!

Dear Yuletide Author,

First of all, thank you! I'm already happy and flattered that you would write a gift for me.

All of my previous posts about Yuletide are public under my Yuletide tag, so you can see what kinds of stories I've received, written, and liked in the past.

Here are my fandoms, characters, and ideas.

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Look, I wrote a fic!

Now that the Yuletide authors have been revealed, I can say that I wrote Compensation, The Westing Game. Judge Ford remembers her chess games with Sam Westing, and tries to pay forward some more old debts.

It's only my second or third ever (maybe more, if you count the terrible stuff I wrote when I was 12-15, but it's not really in the same category).

I had a lot of fun writing it, and the recipient really loved it, which felt great. I had so much fun, in fact, that I think I might try to do more fic challenges.

Thanks to my beta-readers, and thanks to all the people out there in internet-land who read and kudoed and commented!

Two last Yuletide recs!

Counterpoint, A Study in Emerald. A prequel moment: about decision, friendship, and remembering just how deeply wrong the world is. hca, I think you'd especially like this one.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Park, Welcome to Nightvale/Parks and Recreation. Hilarious and weird in just the right deadpan Nightvale way.

What have you liked reading this year, O LJ Friends?

After more than a week of travel, I am BACK in my own place! It was great to go places and see people, but it is wonderful to be in my own space, and I spent much of last evening doing the Finding Nemo seagull "mine! mine! mine!" around my apartment.

I have also spent some more time reading Yuletide! Here are some more recs.

( Yuletide Recs, part 2. Night Circus, Middleman, Northern Exposure, Roman de Silence, Sleepy Hollow, and lots of fun and improbable crossoversCollapse )

I have TWO Yuletide gifts! Both in Slings and Arrows, both absolutely wonderful.

First, We'll Strive to Please You Every Day. Geoffrey teaches a Shakespeare workshop to students! Viola is in love with Olivia, teenagers discover Shakespeare for the first time, and ANNA gets the moment of knowing what Shakespeare is like, the moment when the swirly music comes on and people suddenly understand. There are tangled romances offstage that mirror the action onstage, and moments when the actors' minds open up - and best of all, Anna gets to be brave and smart and insightful.

And second, A Halting Sonnet of His Own. Geoffrey teaches a relationship seminar! Beautiful insight into characters both onstage and off - and again, people discover themselves through Shakespeare, and gain better understandings of themselves and their love. And...holy cow, they named the main female character Becky, and Geoffrey wants her to play Beatrice. Author, are you one of my friends?

It was a wonderful way to wake up. Merry Christmas to all! May your day be filled with light and love and discovery. Or Chinese food. Or all of the above :)

Dear Yuletide Author,

Thank you so much for writing for me! This is my very first time participating, and I'm really excited to see what stories come out of this challenge.

I've made public all of my posts about Yuletide in the past, so that you can get an idea of what kind of stories I like and why.

( My RequestsCollapse )

Yuletide, Part 3: in which I pass on friends' recs, and recommend some more stories written for friends and about friends' media endeavors, and do some general end-of-alphabet recs.

( Middleman, Unusuals, AWESOME medieval literature, awesomer choose-your-own-adventure, Incredibles, cracky crossovers, Discworld, Tangled, and moreCollapse )

Any more recs? I'm sure there are some great stories that I've missed...

More Yuletide recs!

Start Rushing Towards the Skyline, Mad Men. I love stories that let silent characters speak, and we hardly ever get a chance to hear what's going on in Trudy's mind. It's much darker than you'd think, and you can see Trudy starting to become Betty.

Macdonald Hall Runs for Parliament. What do you do when a York turkey runs for Parliament? Form a committee to stop him! The adult versions of everyone felt completely right, and all of the Canadian politics references felt right, too. I miss Canada!

There exists a Michael Buble Being Stalked By a Velociraptor Tumblr. That is all.

The Circus Life of Bailey Alden Clarke, Proprietor, Night Circus. I'm always torn between wanting a sequel to this book and wanting the original to stand Just As It Is, so I'm mixed on fic, too. But this story is lovely, especially the scene with Bailey and his grandmother.

Deus Ex Machina, Quantum Leap. Ziggy POV! Weird and wonderful.

Unreal Until Experienced, Slings and Arrows, with a drop or two of Strange and Norrell. Because the theater is magic, especially Shakespeare, and so is love.