Yuletide recs

[raspberryhunter]

I haven't gone through nearly all the fics I want to read, but here is what I have got so far. Folding my wonderful gifts in because they are so wonderful I would naturally put them in a post of my favorites :D



The Other Woman (6893 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 18th Century CE RPF
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Marie Louise Mignot Denis/Voltaire (Writer), Émilie du Châtelet/Voltaire (Writer), Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great/Voltaire (Writer), Marie Louise Mignot Denis & Émilie du Châtelet, Émilie du Châtelet/Jean François de Saint-Lambert
Characters: Marie Louise Mignot Denis, Voltaire (Writer), Émilie du Châtelet, Catherine Arouet Mignot, Alexandre Jean Mignot, Elisabeth Mignot de Fontaine
Additional Tags: Character Study, Complicated Relationships, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Jealousy, Family Dynamics, Uncle-Niece Relationship, Uncle/Niece Incest, POV Female Character, Rival Relationship, Yuletide Family Affair, Yuletide 2024
Summary:

What was it like, being in a polycule with Voltaire, Émilie du Châtelet and Frederick the Great? Madame Denis tells all!

My boy Voltaire is my fave complicated 18th century guy, and his love life was, er, even more complicated than his life in general. His second long-term relationship was with his previously-married niece, Mme Marie Louise Mignot Denis, and for various reasons (*cough*misogyny) the otherwise lovely biography I read was very harsh on Mme Denis. This story humanizes her and makes a lot of sense of the relationship between her and Voltaire, which is something I didn't realize I wanted until I saw the tags for this fic <3 Wonderful characters, especially Marie herself, who comes across as no-nonsense but still very relatable and human. Don't need to know canon.

Deseret Admission Act (1498 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Cahokia Jazz - Francis Spufford
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Additional Tags: Worldbuilding, Alternate History, Mormonism, Documentation, wikipedia - Freeform, Yuletide Treat
Summary:

Wikipedia entry for the Deseret Admission Act, officially An Act to Provide for the Admission of the State of Deseret into the Union.

An amazing alternate history wikipedia entry in the Cahokia Jazz world! One of these things that you could only get in Yuletide. Knowing at least a bit about either Cahokia Jazz or about LDS history in our world is probably helpful (but isn't that what Wikipedia is for? ;) ) -- I loved it.

Part of the Furniture (15145 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 7/7
Fandom: Derkholm Series - Diana Wynne Jones
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Blade/Claudia (Derkholm)
Characters: Claudia (Derkholm), Blade (Derkholm), Elda (Derkholm), Myrna (Derkholm), Policant (Derkholm), Melissa (Derkholm), Umberto (Derkholm)
Additional Tags: Worldbuilding, Case Fic, magic in academia
Summary:

As Claudia, Elda, and their friends begin their second year of study at the University, Blade accepts a temporary teaching position, and is asked to investigate a strange outbreak of academic dishonesty. Meanwhile, a gargoyle is behaving extremely rudely, and one particular bar stool has gone missing from the buttery.

This is a wonderful plotty magic-in-academia fic, with stellar DWJ voice and characterization, interesting new characters, hilarious university-related happenings, and three plotlines that all come together by the end. It probably helps to know canon, but the depth of it is such that I think it is readable even without knowing canon.

charles wallace murry vs the middle school time loop (11808 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Kairos (O'Keefe) Series - Madeleine L'Engle
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Charles Wallace Murry & Meg Murry O'Keefe, Charles Wallace Murry & the Universe
Characters: Charles Wallace Murry, Meg Murry O'Keefe, Original Characters
Additional Tags: Gentle Time Loop, Many Fun Science Facts, Yuletide 2024, Developing Friendships, Middle School Alienation And General Misery
Summary:

“Meg, I miss you terribly," he says into the phone receiver.

"Charles Wallace," she replies, "of course I miss you too, but shouldn’t you be in class?"

This is an amazing fic with a perfect Charles Wallace voice. If you a) like Charles Wallace and b) had a miserable time in middle school (wasn't that all of us?), you will love this fic. Don't really need to know canon, though it might help to have seen Charles Wallace before.

The Way Shadows Colonise Snow (10067 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Kyle Murchison Booth Stories - Sarah Monette
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Kyle Murchison Booth/John Pelham Ratcliffe
Characters: Kyle Murchison Booth, John Pelham Ratcliffe, Emerson Starkweather
Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Huddling For Warmth, casefic
Summary:

Strictly speaking, the penguin eggs ought not have come to me: items of natural history are not my field. But they were all part of the estate as far as the lawyer was concerned, and considering that I only survived because Ratcliffe was there, it’s probably for the best that nobody else in the Museum touched them before I did.

Oh gosh, this is a lovely Booth casefic that also has a lovely understated developing relationship between Booth and Ratcliffe and a lot of kindness, which I absolutely adore. Probably don't need to know canon, though of course will be better if you do.

The Broken Fin (4154 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Translation State - Ann Leckie, Imperial Radch Series - Ann Leckie
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Relationships: Qven & Teacher (Imperial Radch)
Characters: Qven (Imperial Radch), Teacher (Imperial Radch)
Additional Tags: Presger translators, includes typical presger juvenile such as cannibalism, Canon Typical Violence, mild body horror, referenced matching


My awesome gift!! I asked for Teacher fic, and I am so happy to have gotten this absolutely pitch-perfect Presger-translator voice, giving more background on both Teacher and the alien Presger translator world, and gives the story of how Teacher became Teacher. Complete with fish and teapots :D <3 Need to know canon.

Two Nethack fics, both my gifts and both fabulous. I asked for something that engages with how weird this game is, and that is what I got!!

Minutes of the Board of Deacons Meeting (Dungeon Subcommittee) (1163 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Nethack (Video Game)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Original Characters
Additional Tags: Committee meetings
Summary:

The subcommittee has found a suitable set of darts in the rec room, and of course our chosen adventurer will need to make sure their phone is fully charged with the camera flash set to ‘on’...

This fic fuses together minutes of a Board of Deacons meeting with Nethack and I would have never thought of this but it is so hilarious!! Sooooo... if you know anything about church politics this will be a hilarious read, although funnier if you know canon. (Conversely, I believe it is still funny if you know canon but don't know anything about church politics.)

Any Other Business (1192 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Nethack (Video Game)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Additional Tags: In-Universe Document, Yuletide Treat
Summary:

Minutes of an emergency meeting of the Minetown Council Action Committee.

Not gonna lie, I saw the tag of "In-Universe Document" and was super excited, and indeed this was awesome!! What the title says. Probably need to know canon for full impact.

The Pride of the Fieschi (2214 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Simon Boccanegra - Verdi/Piave
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Giovanna & Maria Fiesco (Simon Boccanegra - Verdi/Piave), Maria Fiesco/Simon Boccanegra (Simon Boccanegra - Verdi/Piave)
Characters: Giovanna (Simon Boccanegra - Verdi/Piave), Maria Fiesco (Simon Boccanegra - Verdi/Piave)
Additional Tags: Pre-Canon, Pregnancy, outsider pov
Summary:

Maria Fiesco is sent to a convent to await the birth of her child. Her old nurse Giovanna comes to her aid.

Ahhhhhh someone wrote Simon Boccanegra fic!! I'm so pleased to get backstory on Maria Fiesco, who is such a lovely and strong character in this fic -- you can totally see how her daughter grew up as such an incredible person. So great! Probably helps to know canon, although she's a great character regardless.

The Path of Most Resistance (2363 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Some Desperate Glory - Emily Tesh
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Avicenna (Some Desperate Glory), Yingli Lin
Additional Tags: Brief canon-typical homophobia, much lower than canon-typical levels of violence, which is not to say there is zero violence, Lord of the Rings fandom (not a crossover)
Summary:

Avicenna reads The Lord of the Rings. He has some thoughts.

So yeah, this was not technically written as a gift for me but it was basically a gift for me, in the sense that the author seems to have been able to reach inside my head and write something that resonanted incredibly strongly, including the great analogy of the title :P Avicenna's relationship with the Lord of the Rings, with a perfect ending. Need to know canon.

My Fickle Friend (The Summer Wind) (1371 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: A Tangled Web - L. M. Montgomery
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Gay Penhallow, Nan Penhallow
Additional Tags: Pre-Canon, Frenemies
Summary:

One moonlit night, with clams.

A little perfect vignette about Gay and Nan that serves to illuminate the kind of relationship they have. May not need to know canon if you just want to read a vignette about two girls and a moonlight night with clams.