Yuletide recs!

[raspberryhunter]

First, my gifts! In 16th C Hapsburg RPF, about the teenage Margaret of Parma and her arranged marriage to Alessandro de' Medici (a bastard and a black man and the first Duke of Florence), and his canonical murder. No canon knowledge needed, as it's explained in the story. Margaret and Alessandro are both awesomesauce, and in the story they have such a lovely (and historically plausible) friendship that it just makes me so happy. And the scenes with Margaret and Alessandro's mistress (which are much more complex and interesting than one might expect from a wife/mistress conversation) are also pure gold. Definitely worth reading even if you don't know anything about the period!

Murder in Florence (8977 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 16th Century CE Hapsburg RPF, 16th Century CE RPF
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Alessandro "il Moro" de' Medici/Lorenzo "Lorenzino" di Pierfrancesco de' Medici, Alessandro "il Moro" de' Medici/Margherita di Parma | Margaret of Parma, Margherita di Parma | Margaret of Parma & Taddea Malaspina, Taddea Malaspina/Alessandro "il Moro" de' Medici, Margherita di Parma | Margaret of Parma & Charles V Holy Roman Emperor, Alessandro "il Moro" de' Medici & Ippolito de' Medici
Characters: Alessandro "il Moro" de' Medici, Lorenzo "Lorenzino" di Pierfrancesco de' Medici, Taddea Malaspina, Cardinal Innocenzo Cibo, Cosimo I. de' Medici, Françoise de Lannoy, Charles V Holy Roman Emperor, Margherita di Parma | Margaret of Parma, Caterina de' Medici, Ippolito de' Medici
Additional Tags: Murder Mystery, Coming of Age, Arranged Marriage, Illegitimacy, POV Female Character, Politics, It's Not Paranoia If They're Really Out To Get You, Male-Female Friendship, Misses Clause Challenge, Chromatic Yuletide, Renaissance Era, yule be first, Yuletide, Yuletide 2021
Summary:

When Alessandro de' Medici is murdered, his teenage bride Margaret of Austria may be one of the few people sincerely mourning him - and determined to find out the truth. For the killer is one of Alessandro's closest friends, and Alessandro, the first Duke of Florence, both a bastard of uncertain parentage and a black man, had more than his share of enemies...

I also got a treat in the same fandom! Now THIS one is about Barbara Blomberg, the mother of Emperor Charles V's illegitimate heroic son Don Juan of Austria, who managed to fox both the Duke of Alba (yes, THAT Duke of Alba) and Philip II! No canon knowledge needed.

(Though if you are a fan of Don Carlo(s) and/or Les vêpres siciliennes, and would be interested in a tale where the Duke of Alba is starring in an opera buffa instead of an opera seria, this is the story for you :D (The historical Don Carlos is mentioned, but only in passing, in a way where you could conceivably headcanon in the opera if you wanted.)

Bad Reputation (2778 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 16th Century CE Hapsburg RPF, 16th Century CE RPF
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Barbara Blomberg & Fernando Álvarez de Toledo III Duque de Alba, Fernando Álvarez de Toledo III Duque de Alba & Felipe II de España | Philip II of Spain
Characters: Barbara Blomberg, Fernando Álvarez de Toledo III Duque de Alba, Luis de Zúñiga y Requesens, Felipe II de España | Philip II of Spain, Juan de Austria | John of Austria
Additional Tags: Yuletide Treat, Character Study, Dark Comedy, Winning at life
Summary:

The Duke of Alba might be King Philip's most feared general and the terror of the Netherlands, but even he is an utter loss on how to deal with one woman: Barbara Blomberg, former lover of the late Emperor Charles V., mother of Spain's latest national hero - and determined to live her life exactly the way she wants to.

I also was pleased to get a treat in 18th C Frederician RPF, which is about the first meeting of Frederick the Great (back when he was just Prince Friedrich and his lover/best friend Katte had just been executed by his father) and his life partner/valet Michael Gabriel Fredersdorf. The most lovely about this story, for me, and which I think will appeal to some of you as well, is the lovely lovely descriptions of music and how both Fritz and Fredersdorf feel about music, and how they start to form a bond because of the shared way they feel about it. (Also, Fredersdorf is greeeeeat and this story leans into that.) I don't think you need to know canon except what I've just said.

A Prussian Christmas Tale (7430 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 18th Century CE Frederician RPF, 18th Century CE RPF
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Michael Gabriel Fredersdorf/Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great, Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great & Wilhelmine von Preußen | Wilhelmine of Prussia, Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great/Hans Hermann von Katte
Characters: Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great, Michael Gabriel Fredersdorf, Curt Christoph von Schwerin
Additional Tags: First Meetings, Grief/Mourning, Character Study, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Christmas, Yuletide Treat
Summary:

Having survived a year of imprisonment and haunted by the death of Katte, Crown Prince Friedrich of Prussia is determined to focus on nothing but ambition, and shut out all sentiment. But the Christmas of 1731 has a surprise in store for him: Michael Gabriel Fredersdorf...

Then, two treats in Madness! The first is a small treat about Gram Tillerman, whom I love very much, and I was so happy to get something that centered on her, especially since the books are more centered on the kids, and she's such a fascinating character. Canon knowledge needed.

I know who you are (439 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Tillerman Cycle - Cynthia Voigt
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Abigail "Gram" Tillerman
Additional Tags: Character Study
Summary:

A brief reflection on Abigail Tillerman as her grandchildren invade her life.

The second is a riff on Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird applied to Frederick the Great, Voltaire, and Frederick's brother Prince Henry, and his friend/friend-with-benefits Lehndorff, and I totally did not expect this cracky, touching, allusive brilliance. Unfortunately I think it might be pretty hard to follow if you didn't already know something about the canon. (Though if you've read some of the Frederician fics, that might be enough for some of it -- e.g. if you've read the Voltaire fics in the fandom, that would probably be enough to follow the Voltaire parts.) But it's still lovely even if you don't get all the references :D

Thirteen Ways of Looking at Frederick (781 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 3/3
Fandom: 18th Century CE RPF
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great, Voltaire (Writer), Friedrich Heinrich Ludwig von Preußen | Henry of Prussia (1726-1802), Ernst Ahasverus von Lehndorff
Additional Tags: Poetry
Summary:

I was of three minds.

Then, the story that I count as a gift for me :D (I nominated Traveller in Black but found I had too many requests, and ended up dropping this one.) I love the economical and logical way the Traveller in Black solves problems via the mechanism of granting wishes, and that is definitely a Thing in this story. No canon knowledge needed except what I've just said -- this is basically a standalone Traveller in Black story :D

As Welcome as the Dust (1739 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Traveler in Black - John Brunner
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: The Traveler in Black
Additional Tags: Order vs Chaos, Canon-Typical Levels of Getting What You Wished For and Regretting It, Be Careful What You Wish For, Yuletide Treat
Summary:

Whenever certain planets are in conjunction, the Traveler in Black goes on his periodic pilgrimage to carry out his task. He is not bound by the rules of ordinary mortals, but there are rules he is bound by, and he must follow them, for he has many names, but only one nature.

Each trek encompasses the portion of beings whose natures are stubbornly multiple as they attempt to deal with the chaos of their existence, and the traveler works to help them to fix themselves in Time.

And now, some other recs:

There were two Archy and Mehitabel fics written for Yuletide and they are both brilliant. If you don't know Archy and Mehitabel you should! -- Archy is a vers libre poet reincarnated as a cockroach, who writes poems by jumping on the keys of a typewriter. (With no capital letters or punctuation, because shift keys are hard for a cockroach!) Mehitabel is an alley cat (and toujours a lady, she likes to say) and Archy's friend, whom Archy often writes about. The canon is awesome and if you don't know it you should go here to read some Archy poems (scroll down a bit to the links) and then go read these fics. The second is a crossover with Guys and Dolls - Runyon, which is also spectacular!

four poems by archy (1446 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Archy and Mehitabel - Don Marquis
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Archy (Archy and Mehitabel), Mehitabel (Archy and Mehitabel)
Additional Tags: Poetry, Literary References & Allusions, Blues, Cockroaches, Beowulf (sort of), Non-graphic Animal Death (background character only), Canon-Typical Child Neglect
Summary:

in fact i did recently
come across a poet s
soul in the body of a
silverfish he was picking
out the words of his latest
composition by biting them
out of a disused
encyclopedia

The Scribing Business (2883 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Archy and Mehitabel - Don Marquis, Guys and Dolls - Damon Runyon
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Archy (Archy and Mehitabel), Harry the Horse (Guys and Dolls)
Additional Tags: Yuletide Treat, Gangsters, Journalism, Prohibition
Summary:

Harry the Horse has the idea that Archy can help him out with a little problem he is having, which is that he and Spanish John and Little Isadore wish to knock over a truck belonging to Solly Fingers which is carrying certain products from Canada. Solly neglects to notify anybody as to when it is due to arrive, out of a suspicion that someone may wish to knock it over. But the schedule will certainly be in his little club over on Eighth Avenue, and Harry says he does not know of a club anywhere on Eighth that can keep out a cockroach that is as smart as Archy, or in fact a cockroach of any description whatsoever.

There are several great Scholomance fics, check out the entire tag, but I'll settle for reccing two for now -- first, futurefic for The Last Graduate, amazing pitch-perfect canon voice, which comes to some conclusions that, woooow and I wonder very much if the books are going to go there, it's super plausible. Content note (besides the usual content note) that it ends on a heartstopping line. Canon knowledge definitely needed for these; the first has series spoilers.

The Jaws That Snatch (5679 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Scholomance - Naomi Novik
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Galadriel "El" Higgins/Orion Lake
Characters: Galadriel "El" Higgins, Liesel (Scholomance), Aadhya (Scholomance), Ophelia Rhys-Lake, Chloe Rasmussen, Clarita Acevedo-Cruz, Orion Lake, The Scholomance (Scholomance), Gwen Higgins
Additional Tags: Maw-Mouths, Enclaves, what happens next, Canon Continuation, Spoilers through Last Graduate
Summary:

I was expecting a lot of things when I walked into the New York enclave two days after graduation. What I wasn’t expecting was for it to feel like a maw-mouth.

And this one, which I love to bits -- a look at Chloe and how she grew up, extremely and horribly plausible. No explicit spoilers, but canon knowledge needed.

Beside the Golden Door (3585 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Scholomance - Naomi Novik
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Chloe Rasmussen, Orion Lake, Magnus Tebow
Additional Tags: Worldbuilding
Summary:

When Chloe is five years old, her parents tell her that New Yorkers survive the Scholomance because they're prepared. Ten years in the New York enclave.

The Rake's Progress -- it would probably help to at least read a synopsis of the opera, but really all you need to know in the end is that Nick Shadow is a demonic figure who is involved in Tom Rakewell's downfall, it's still a gorgeous story of devilish desires:

repenting at leisure (1300 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Rake's Progress - Stravinsky/Auden/Kallman
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Tom Rakewell/Nick Shadow, Tom Rakewell/Anne Trulove
Characters: Nick Shadow, Tom Rakewell, Anne Trulove
Additional Tags: Miltonic References, Jealousy, Not Exactly Non-Con or Even Dub-Con But Still Feels Like Some Warning Tag Is Necessary, (Demonic Corruption Seems Inherently Predatory and Dubiously Consensual)
Summary:

Tom Rakewell's insistence on maintaining some virtue seems like a drawback at first—until Nick Shadow notices that it makes Tom's fall all the more delicious.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn -- a lovely look at Sissy Rommely. Need to know canon.

When age steals away wishes (this is the moment replayed) (1067 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Betty Smith
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Sissy Rommely, Katie Nolan, Little Sissy (A Tree Grows in Brooklyn)
Additional Tags: Misses Clause Challenge, unexpected baseball content
Summary:

Snapshots of Sissy.

Almost 13k of Superfudge fic that is amazing! (It uses canon from Double Fudge, which I've never read but which the author, knowing many of us wouldn't have, synopsizes at the author notes in the beginning.) This is pastiche/futurefic: what would happen to Fudge and Peter and Sheila and the others? and it answers it in style, and in a very satisfying way that is all about family and friends and the bonds thereof <3 You know, this is probably readable without knowing canon, but much more resonant if you have at least vague memories of having read Superfudge as a child.

Fudge Ripple (12788 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Fudge Series - Judy Blume
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Peter Hatcher & Sheila Tubman
Characters: Peter Hatcher, Sheila Tubman, Merle "Mouse" Ellis, Farley Drexel "Fudge" Hatcher, Tamara "Tootsie" Hatcher, Jimmy Fargo, Cousin Howie, The Natural Beauties, Mini - Character, Original Female Character(s)
Additional Tags: Jewltide, References to September 11, New York City, Mental Health Issues
Summary:

“What do you think is wrong with my brother?” I asked Sheila when June and I had brunch with Sheila and Mouse before we all headed home. “I mean, you’re studying to be a psychologist, right? So you must have some theories.”

Sheila sipped her coffee. “My diagnosis: siblings are fucking annoying.”

“That’s not a diagnosis.”

“It’s not? I bet there’s a DSM code for it if I look hard enough.”

An absolutely hilarious Spinal Tap fic! I think you probably need to know canon for it to be as extremely funny as it is if you do know canon.

Comedy of remarriage: Spinal Tap on breaking up and getting back together (1565 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: This is Spinal Tap (1984)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: David St. Hubbins/Nigel Tufnel
Characters: Nigel Tufnel, David St. Hubbins
Additional Tags: Epistolary, Interview
Summary:

The heavy metal band discusses the band’s split five years ago, their solo albums, and their upcoming album and reunion tour, in this exclusive interview.

Comments

[earthspirits]

Thanks for the fun rec's!

[raspberryhunter]

You are welcome, I hope you enjoy them!