Yuletide recs

[raspberryhunter]

Every year I'm like, how is it there are so many good fics??
Three of these were my awesome gifts. Additionally, partial disclosure: I betaed two of these fics, but which ones are left as an exercise for the reader until reveals :)


Courting the Chamberlain (3740 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Sieben Jahre - Tanja Kinkel, 18th Century CE RPF, Unspecified Fandom
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Caroline Marie Elisabeth Daum/Michael Gabriel Fredersdorf, Michael Gabriel Fredersdorf/Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great
Characters: Caroline Marie Elisabeth Daum, Michael Gabriel Fredersdorf, Ludolf von Katte, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
Additional Tags: Complicated Relationships, Character Study, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Male-Female Friendship, Yuletide Treat, Backstory, Unspecified Fandom - Freeform
Summary:

How Caroline Daum ended up marrying Frederick the Great's lover: or, how to find yourself a suitable match in Frederician Prussia.

The novel Sieben Jahre is all about Frederick the Great and his brother Henry/Heinrich (my problematic fave!) and their entire super dysfunctional family, and all the fascinating people around them!! Caroline Fredersdorf shows up very briefly but is awesome and memorable, and one of my prompts was for her backstory -- and I got this great story, both tender and hilarious, about how she ended up getting married to the King's chamberlain and lover Michael Gabriel Fredersdorf! It doesn't require any book knowledge, although knowing enough of the 18th CE history to know that Fredersdorf was, in fact, Fritz's chamberlain and lover is probably useful (and now you know that!)

Remember, Remember (13646 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 4/4
Fandom: The Chronicles of Chrestomanci - Diana Wynne Jones
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Nan Pilgrim, Charles Morgan, Nirupam Singh, Estelle Green (Chrestomanci), Brian Wentworth (Chrestomanci), Mr. Wentworth (Chrestomanci), Cat Chant, Christopher Chant, Millie Chant, Klartch (Chrestomanci)
Additional Tags: Witch Week, sentient cleaning implements
Summary:

One year later, it’s Witch Week again. A great deal of magic is once more loose in the world. And a number of cleaning and gardening implements are not happy with the direction things have taken.

Pitch-perfect sequel to Witch Week, as the characters in that book, a year after -- well, see the title! I feel like saying any more might spoil how charming this fic is. Honestly, you could probably read this without knowing canon.

There were THREE fics written for various stories in the anthology Her Smoke Rose Up Forever, which I'm so excited about!

Remembering the Director of the Seventh Recitation: Oral Histories from the Imperial Archive (3597 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Her Smoke Rose Up Forever (anthology) - James Tiptree Jr., The Women Men Don't See - James Tiptree Jr., The Last Flight of Dr. Ain - James Tiptree Jr.
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Characters: Ruth Parsons
Additional Tags: Oral History, Post-Canon, "Main Character Death" Just In the Sense That Everyone Dies Eventually, Background Ruth Parsons & Althea Parsons, Vietnam War, Lunar Forestry
Summary:

Five memories of Ruth Parsons, afterwards.

Post-canon for "The Women Men Don't See," with some worldbuilding taken from "The Last Flight of Dr. Ain." Just a brilliant set of interviews with a diverse set of aliens and humans and fascinating worldbuilding, about a potential future for Ruth Parsons and her life, that has a lot of thoughts about axes other than the women/men axis. Just really great. This can definitely be read without knowing "Flight," and while helpful to know "Women," it's not necessary, I think, to enjoy it. (The canon story is archived here, although the formatting is a little weird on my browser.)

That the Deity Who Kills for Pleasure Will Also Heal (6260 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Her Smoke Rose Up Forever (anthology) - James Tiptree Jr., On The Last Afternoon - James Tiptree Jr.
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Characters: Original Characters
Additional Tags: Rape, Explicit Sexual Content, Ecocide, Agoraphobia, Background Human Sacrifice, Background Harm to Mice, Penis Fencing, Perhaps Something Will Be Saved From the Wreckage, Post-Canon
Summary:

Mysas says you’re gods from the sky, like the elders warned us. I think you’re just people. Gods wouldn’t look so frightened all the time, or sweat so much...

Ten thousand afternoons later, space travelers make contact again.

Post-canon for "On the Last Afternoon," dealing with what it means to be human; and the battle between humans and the ecosystem, and where does one draw the line? This can be read without knowing canon (it takes place generations after canon, in fact), although it's definitely very much in dialogue with the very different mindset of that story. (Sorry, I can't find an online version of the canon story.)

That Which Crieth Unto Me From The Ground (5003 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Her Smoke Rose Up Forever (anthology) - James Tiptree Jr., Her Smoke Rose Up Forever (short story) -James Tiptree Jr., Unspecified Fandom
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Additional Tags: Worldbuilding, Horror, xenofiction
Summary:

The price of Seeing was the Stones; every true-living creature knew that.

Horrifyingly dark look at the already-dark world of "Her Smoke Rose Up Forever," continuing the same themes of the persistence of hatred. In theory it is possible to read this as an alien story without reading canon, but in practice it makes a ton more sense if one reads the story, which is archived here.

Co-Curricular & Enrichment Activities (2722 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Incandescent - Emily Tesh
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Aneeta Shah, Nicola “Nikki” Conway, Mathias Wick, William Daubery, Sapphire "Saffy" Walden, The Phoenix (The Incandescent)
Additional Tags: Worldbuilding, Missing Scene
Summary:

Nikki figures it out first—or, no, that’s not entirely fair. Mathias figures it out first. Nikki is just, as she so often is, the first one to speak up. “There's something wrong with Dr Walden.”

Following February half term, Sixth Form Invocation realise they have a problem.

This is the story I wanted so much after reading The Incandescent, the scene where Walden's students talk about what's wrong with her. Rings so emotionally true to these kids, I loved it so very much!! Need to know canon.

Loyalty Only to Me (1722 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Der Ring des Nibelungen | The Ring of the Nibelung - Wagner
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Alberich & Hagen (Der Ring des Nibelungen)
Characters: Hagen (Der Ring des Nibelungen), Alberich (Der Ring des Nibelungen), Gutrune (Der Ring des Nibelungen)
Additional Tags: Dysfunctional Relationships, Emotionally Abusive Parenting, Dreams and Nightmares, Magic Potions
Summary:

Hagen learns many lessons from his father over the years.

I adore this look at Hagen, the villain of Gotterdammerung, and how this fic delves into his backstory and his relationship with his father Alberich, with lovely prose and the terrifying undercurrent of generational hate. Probably don't need to know canon for this one.

salvation from falling into the sea of misguidances (4104 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Some Desperate Glory - Emily Tesh
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Avicenna/Magnus "Mags" Marston
Characters: Avicenna (Some Desperate Glory), Yingli Lin, Magnus "Mags" Marston
Additional Tags: Character Study, Historical Avicenna
Summary:

Avicenna learns about his namesake, and tries to figure out what's next.

Oh gosh, a just lovely and pitch-perfect look at Avicenna, not least into what might happen post-canon. There is hope for this Avi, and I absolutely love that. One of my favorite fics in the collection. Need to know canon.

Time of Iron Discord (1661 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Time of Iron Series - Sarah Rees Brennan
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Additional Tags: epistolery, Fandom, Fan theories, Meta
Summary:

If you think your fandom has problems, at least the canon doesn't retcon itself...

It never occurred to me that the fandom for a canon that retcons itself has got to be... interesting. This is hilarious! Need to know canon.